Another Heart Calls
by Lisolotte
Summary: Charlotte finds herself deep in drama when she is needed to get the Mystic Falls crew out of another tricky situation. She has a past with Elijah, but an attraction to Damon. Who will she choose though? Set in what I would imagine season 4 to be.
1. A Problem Always Finds Them

Klaus hadn't really planned what would happen next. His choice had been trust Bonnie Bennett or die. Possession was one of the tricks that he favored, surely, but that did not mean he wished to be stuck as Tyler Lockwood for the rest of his life. He could feel how inferior his body was. And not only that, but he had been unable to maintain the ruse because he found himself unable to use the situation to his advantage when it came to Caroline Forbes. So now he had been outed. The rag-tag group of Mystic Falls denizens had taken it upon themselves to find out exactly what had happened.

It had always bothered him how entitled this lot was. He was a thousand year old monster; he felt the world was his for the taking. The strongest thing they had to offer was a pair of 150 year old vampire brothers. Yet this little group expected that all answers would be theirs and every situation theirs to manipulate. If Klaus were in a better position, he would teach them what for, but, unfortunately, Tyler Lockwood's body did not offer him much leverage and Bonnie Bennett had taken leave of the town rather. In fact, she had probably made the right choice getting away from this lot.

"How do we get you out and Tyler back?" Caroline interrupted his musings.

She was so ready to see him gone, what a pity. Klaus smirked and the group was disturbed by the look of that familiar smile playing itself across Tyler's face. "I am afraid I have none of the answers, love. I was in quite desperate straits when Ms. Bennett took pity on me. With the town witch no longer in residence, there is nothing we can do," he paused. "Unless you lot have another witch hidden somewhere." They were silent. "No? Too bad. I guess I can't help you then. You lot killed my last two witches. Leaves me high and dry."

"How do we even know that getting rid of Daddy Hybrid will bring Wonder Boy back? No offense, Blondie, but I much prefer having Klausykins in this weakened state," Damon Salvatore interjected.

"Don't be ridiculous, Damon," Stefan said. "We are not leaving Tyler in some limbo just because you like having Klaus under control. There has to be another way."

"What exactly has gotten you all so worked up. Surely it isn't the transition of Ms. Gilbert. Neither Tyler nor I would have much bearing on that."

"They know," Caroline said in a whisper. "The Founder's Council of Mystic Falls knows about me and Tyler. We were going to run."

Klaus laughed, "That's quite the small matter, dear. They can't be the first to find out. Simply fixed. Now tell me what the real problem is."

Damon shrugged, "We tried." He cleared his throat and looked at Klaus for the first time. "Word got out. Who knows how, probably one of your little furry minions? However it happened, word is out that you are in a weakened state and there are vamps all over the world sharpening their weapons ready to kill you. As the head of our bloodline, we have what you might call a vested interest in how things play out. Our choices are either: fight your battles for you and hopefully win or get you out of this body and put an end to this whole business."

Klaus's demeanor had changed quite markedly. "Ah, well, that puts a different face on the whole matter, doesn't it? Unfortunately for all of us, I really don't have the answers. This was not something I planned to happen. We cannot do anything without a witch."

"Too bad they don't have a witchy yellow pages. I would call up my old friend Bree, but that didn't end too well last time I saw her and word is it that your **old** pal Gloria is dead, right, Stef?" Stefan scowled at the mention. "Any suggestions on where to start or do I have to do all the work around here?"

Klaus once again smirked. "I do believe we have Katerina to thank for that one. I will remember that next time I see her. I do have a place where you can start: an old friend of mine who might just be willing to help. Last I heard she was out in San Francisco, but Chicago is probably the best place to get a hold of her."

"Well, what's her name? Anything?" Caroline asked impatiently.

"Her name is Charlotte and if you untie me I will show you just how to reach her." Klaus had first thought about sending them to Charlotte because he knew that she would give them a good run around and he could find all the amusement in the world in their struggles, but if what they were saying was true, Charlotte was probably his only hope right now unless Elijah had a very powerful witch hidden up his sleeve. He just hoped she wasn't too mad still.


	2. Charlotte Enters the Scene

The trip to Chicago had not been easy for anyone. Elena's transition was certainly posing some difficulties and her relationship with both Salvatores had grown awkward. She had begun relying heavily on Caroline who was not in the best position herself with her boyfriend maybe dead and her errant suitor occupying his body. Damon and Stefan were like two dogs fighting for dominance proving who was more dedicated to Elena, which only took a backseat to the very persistent threat of their extinction should Klaus be assassinated. Bonnie was gone. Jeremy was in reasonably good shape, but with Alaric being on the list as yet another trusted person he lost, he was still suffering.

In fact, of the group Klaus seemed the happiest. Seeing Charlotte was sure to make him happy. Fighting or not, Charlotte was like family to him. Not only that, but he knew she was going to put up quite the fight when it came to complying with the will of Elena and her little group. The mere sight of Elena would probably send her into a tizzy. Klaus's glee was practically childlike. Unlike the past thousand years or so, he had no overriding goal motivating him. He certainly wished to remain alive, but other than that, he now had time to right all the wrongs he had done to his family. Charlotte herself was a major part of that. Klaus couldn't wait.

Elena was less excited. Adjusting to life as a vampire was proving particularly difficult for her. For a girl who was already an emotional wreck waiting to combust, this was certainly not helpful. Every mood amplified, Elena just wanted some respite. And unfortunately she also wanted human blood now. She certainly wasn't comfortable with that thought, but here she was. She looked around the restaurant that Klaus had told them to wait at.

It was Damon who broke the silence. "As much as I love awkwardly sitting here, is there any chance she is actually going to show up?"

"She isn't going to show up, you twit. We are waiting for her to send us an invitation," Rebekah drawled as she walked up to the group.

"I see you got my message, baby sister."

"Still weird, Nik. I know it's you in that body, but all I see is Tyler Lockwood. But yes, I got your message. Kol called me to ask if I was going to come. As if there was any question. He says he won't come until he is sure she has calmed down."

"And Elijah?"

"Surely you didn't invite him, Nik, not if you want Charlotte's cooperation. Hell, bringing the doppelganger brat was a risky choice as is."

"I did not invite Elijah. I merely let him know that we were coming. I did not tell him that she was most likely in Chicago. Although, if he wanted to know, I am sure he could guess that. It is not as if Elijah and Charlotte are strangers."

Elena had reached her boiling point. "Are we meeting with her or not?"

Jeremy held up an envelope that had appeared in his lap. "I think we have our invitation, guys."

The address in the envelope led them to a quaint house on the North Side of the city. They let themselves in the gate and Klaus rang the doorbell confidently. Rebekah joining them had been a huge boon. She and Charlotte were close friends, or had been until their disastrous fallout in the '20s. Still, her presence was helpful.

Rebekah herself was apprehensive. She was desperate to see Charlotte again and resume their deep friendship, but there was more than 80 years of silence to be explained. As important as that was, the life of Rebekah's brother was at stake.

Elena was fidgety. Sure, she could walk in the sunlight with the ring Bonnie had left her, but being a vampire seemed to grate against everything she had been as a human girl. And now it was another mad dash to stay alive.

Caroline was becoming more and more silent and less like herself. Coping with Klaus/Tyler was nearly impossible. Now one of the Mikaelson's gruesome mates was being brought in to save theirs asses. As if it ever worked that way.

Stefan was desperately trying to remember if he had ever met Charlotte or heard anything about her. There was something buzzing at the back of his brain, but he couldn't figure it out. Certainly, it was no coincidence that her residence was in Chicago.

Damon was bored and dangerously close to breaking into this woman's house and taking what he needed, but the apprehensive state of the Originals was just enough to give him pause.

Most importantly, Jeremy sensed something strange going on. Rather than the buzzing that Stefan heard within his own head, Jeremy heard a literal buzzing going on around them. No one else seemed to notice and rather than draw attention to his status as the only human present, Jeremy decided to stay quiet.

As all this introspection and anticipation was going on outside her door, Charlotte was prepping herself for a meeting she had been dreading. She knew the Mikaelsons would need something from her eventually. They knew too much of her talents for that to never happen. Luck had at least favored her in that her two most dreaded Mikaelsons had apparently sat this one out. Kol and, most of all, Elijah would be impossible. She knew out of sheer obstinacy she would disagree with anything Elijah said and Kol had the amazing ability to distract her and cajole her. The doppelganger, in her new vampire form, was standing out there, too. Charlotte steeled herself. She was not one to hide and simper. She would take command of this situation and get it over with as soon as possible.

With that motivating her, Charlotte opened the door to her apartment wide and silently welcomed the group in. "Please make yourselves comfortable," she said to them. "Something tells me this is quite the conversation."

"Charlotte?" Rebekah asked almost silently.

Without a word, Charlotte pulled the girl into a long and close hug. Tears began to run down both their faces. "I know, Bek, I know. You don't need to explain to me. I let my temper get the best of me and then Niklaus took you away from me before I could fix things. Don't worry about that. Let's fix whatever problem your brother has brought to my door and send him on his way. Once we are alone, we can talk as much as you like."

"Are you two lovers or something?" Caroline asked.

"Keep a civil tongue in your head or I will remove your rude one, baby vampire. You don't know quite who you are dealing with so I will give you a pass. Treat me with the respect I deserve and I have a feeling you and I could be great friends, but not if you speak to me like that," Charlotte snapped.

In that one moment, Charlotte had commanded the attention of the entire group. There was no question that none of them would even think to make another such remark after that.

"Rebekah is perhaps my best friend in the world and has been my entire life. In fact, I would call her my sister. She has been more sisterly to me than the one who was born to that role. I love her dearly and won't tolerate disrespect of her or myself. That being said, what can I do for you? I doubt you are here to ask me my life's story."

Klaus smiled. "As you probably already know, I am not in my own body. The witch who did this ran off. It appears that some of the enemies I have made in my lifetime have found out that I am less than invincible and are sharpening their swords to come end me. So, I need a witch and I need the spell. It is not something I have memorized."

Stefan studied the girl (woman?) while she pondered what Klaus had asked of her. He couldn't shake the deep feeling of familiarity he got when he looked at her. She had long dark brown hair that barely had a wave to it. Her dark eyes were particularly sharp and seemed to display whatever emotion she was feeling. Not a common trait in vampires. It only made her seem more intimidating that she didn't care who knew what she was thinking. She was so old and strong that she seemed to doubt that anyone could use that to harm her. She was on the shorter side with pale skin.

"And how is this little girl supposed to deliver all that? Does she just have all that hidden somewhere in this little house. She's a vampire so I doubt she can perform the spell herself and why the hell she would know the spell is beyond me," Damon snarled.

"Display your ignorance, Mr. Salvatore. There are many things I know that you have no idea about. If I tell you that I can do it, I can. The question I have is why should I, Niklaus?"

"Oh, now you can't get mad at me for outing you, Charlotte. You left me wide open for this. In fact, you gave me no other choice."

"Don't say it, Niklaus. I'll do it."

"Too late, love, everyone is clamoring to know."

On some level, that was true. The entire room had gone silent. Everyone in the room was now dying to know who exactly Charlotte was and why she held the key to their salvation. The only one who was even a little bit distracted was Jeremy, but that was only because the buzzing he heard was growing steadily growing louder.

"Charlotte, you should care because there is a very real chance that I am the head of the bloodline that leads to Miss Elena Gilbert over here. At the very least, we don't know who is the head of her bloodline. Surely, there is something in your heart that will want to keep her alive in the very least, even if you no longer feel the need to save me. We were close once, Charlotte."

Anger clouded her face, "Enough of that, Klaus. No need to lay it on so thick. All I wanted was you to beg. Why would I just damn you all to death?"

"Better yet, why would she care if I died?" Elena asked. "I don't even know you."

"Well, her name might be Charlotte Mikaelson, but she was born Charlotte Petrova. Does that answer your question?" Elijah asked from the doorway.


	3. A Few Answers With More Questions

**I feel terrible about not previously including an author's note. I had just wanted to get my bearings with this story and planned on addressing some things directly. However, I woke up to my very first review today, which made me smile like wow. **_**D**_**, the only thing I know to call you, I would like to thank you personally. I would also like to thank **_**anonymous**_** (in my mind you are Daniel Gillies unwilling to admit his love for me) and **_**DTaylor201989**_**. You are beautiful people.**

**(1) This story will eventually become Elijah-centric as the description promises. I just want to build the story properly first. Every single character should have an important role in the story because I am setting it in universe. (2) Charlotte is my own creation. She has the name originally supposed to belong to the original Petrova. As you have probably already guessed, I have a good reason for this. (3) I have not a clue about how long this will end up being. If I stick with it, I have a feeling it will be quite long. (4) I will update as frequently as possible. Right now, it seems like I can do maybe a chapter a night, which I hope is okay with you. (5) This is rated M because I want to be open to the possibility. There will probably be some smut, but we will have to work up to that. No one seems ready to get down and dirty yet, do they? (Unless you, along with Caroline, think Rebekah and Charlotte have some less than platonic feelings for each other.) I have decided to forgo swearing for a couple reasons. I personally have no problem with it. However, it isn't really a factor on the show (CW, yo), but that doesn't restrict them from being brutally honest. I just feel weird making Elijah say "fuck." Is that wrong of me? (6) Review please. I know it takes an extra second, but that effort helps to let me know how I am doing and what you think so far. I am totally open to suggestion and love to hear anything: good or bad!**

**Love,**

**Lisolotte**

**(Sorry it is so long!)**

"Get out," was all Charlotte said to him.

"Charlotte, don't be unreasonable," Elijah said crisply.

Color filled Charlotte's face. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but changed her mind when she looked at the company in the room. Engaging with Elijah would lead to some topics that she certainly didn't want aired in front of this group. So, she bit her tongue. As she calmed, the group visibly relaxed. Except for Elena.

"What does that mean? That your last name is Mikaelson, but was Petrova?" She asked. "That could mean a whole lot. Why would your last name mean that you want to keep me alive? Could one of you explain?"

The Originals looked apprehensively from one to the other while Charlotte started straight at Elijah. "That is a story for another time. And certainly other circumstances. The important thing is that I start finding the items on the shopping list that Klaus brought. If you don't mind, I need a little privacy. I will let you know when I find something. I assume you are still based out of Mystic Falls."

"As much as I would like to give you what you want, I am afraid that is not possible," Elijah responded rapidly. "I already intercepted a group of miscreants on their way to murder Klaus. We need to close ranks and keep as many guards around him. You, Charlotte, are one of the oldest vampires we know. You are simply too valuable to leave here in Chicago until you find what we need. I am afraid we are all going to have to stick together."

Charlotte opened her mouth to respond, but Jeremy fell to the floor holding his head and moaning. Charlotte was the first to reach him. "You can see them, too, can't you?" Charlotte asked him.

"Ghosts?" Elena whispered.

Charlotte nodded. "I guess there is no point in keeping this secret. I am warning you though: there will be dire consequences should you let this get out. I have kept this a well-guarded secret for more than 1000 years. It better stay that way."

"You're 1000 years old?" Damon exclaimed.

A wry smile crept onto her face. "I don't look a day over 17, do I?" Her attention returned to Jeremy. "I'm sorry. If I had known you were coming, I would have sent them away. Ignoring them causes them to try and get my attention. That's what you're hearing. I have to admit, I keep pretty close tabs on your family. You certainly weren't born with the sight."

"That would be the fault of the same witch that left me in this predicament," Klaus offered.

"He died and she brought him back. Ever since then, he can see ghosts. But only when he is thinking of the person," Elena said meekly.

"Ah," Charlotte said while rubbing circles on Jeremy's back. "That explains it." She stood up and with a serious face looked around the room. "Keep quiet or I might just ignore you for 10 years. Does that suit you?" She asked to the air around everyone.

Suddenly, all Jeremy heard was silence. He looked gratefully at Charlotte. "Thank you so much. I am sorry that I caused such a scene, but it just was impossible to hear anything else."

Charlotte smiled warmly at the boy. "No need to apologize to me. I guess I should explain myself. In the very least as some sort of apology to you."

"How can you see ghosts?" Caroline asked. "I thought that people lost their powers when they became vampires." After a beat she added, "Ma'am."

Charlotte laughed heartily. "No need for ma'ams. Witches lose their powers when they die. I am not sure what would happen to Mr. Gilbert here. I am not a witch nor was I ever one. Witches lose their powers because they are linked to nature and vampires are unnatural. My powers are not in any way linked to nature. I am not sure exactly where they come from, but for simplicity's sake let's say they are a function of my brain. As a human, I could speak with the dead. Sometimes I could even make them appear substantial to other's eyes. The only downside is that doing so put a drain on my own strength. It was useful, but also meant that any ghost with an agenda could badger me. Unlike Jeremy, I don't have to be thinking of them to see them. I am constantly surrounded by the dead. Sometimes it is someone I knew while they were alive. More often, it is a stranger. I usually will help them find peace rather than walk the earth forever watching the living. I am not a saint though. I will sometimes ignore them."

"So, you're like the ghost whisperer?" Caroline asked.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "No, not even close. Do I look like Jennifer Love Hewitt?"

"Got the curves down," Damon replied.

Charlotte gagged. "As I was getting at, my powers didn't disappear when I was turned. In fact, they became stronger. I found myself able to summon spirits. And with a stronger body, I was able to use my powers for longer. As I've aged, so have my powers. So that buzzing you heard was all the lost souls lingering here trying to garner my attention. I had been ignoring them though because news of your impending arrival had put me in a mood. That is why I can help you. Being able to talk to spirits gives me a wide net of information. They can see everything and never be detected. Unfortunately, they are still people, or what's left of them. That means they might resist me, lie or ask for something in return. It isn't like looking up something on the computer. And it isn't my life's mission to settle the lives of all the ghosts walking the Earth. Some of them can do that on their own."

"So, basically, you have to go from ghost to ghost until someone has the right answer?" Caroline asked skeptically.

"You can summon _anyone_?" Elena asked hopefully.

"What do you mean by making them substantial?" Stefan added.

"Shut up and let her breath," Rebekah barked. "All of us just show up here disrupting her life and giving her a list of things we need from her. You are lucky she hasn't kicked us out yet."

"Maybe a demonstration is in order?" Klaus offered.

Charlotte gave him a dark look. "Enough out of you for a bit." Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, the air took a charged quality and they all became silent with expectation. Then she appeared. Standing in between Rebekah and Charlotte was Gloria. Stefan and Klaus recognized her immediately. They weren't the ones who needed showing though.

"I saw you die," Stefan stated matter of factly.

"Yes, you did, but that doesn't stop Charlotte, does it?" Gloria offered. The entire room was in awe of the moment.

"Try and shake her hand, Damon," Charlotte said softly.

"Why me?" he responded immediately.

"You're the most skeptical."

Damon walked up to Gloria slowly. She offered her hand and he was amazed to find it solid. "So not only can you make Casper appear in front of me, but you can make her solid."

"With some effort," Charlotte said with a wry smile. "Gloria, if you don't mind, we are in desperate need of a witch and a certain spell. Which I am certain you already knew."

Gloria looked affronted. "All that dealing with the Mikaelsons has ever gotten me is pain and death. Why would I be willing to help?"

"Because I can make sure she knows that you truly loved her. Do we have a deal?"


	4. Picking Up Speed

** Sorry about the lack of updates. I have been ridiculously busy with other people's birthdays. As fun as that has been, Charlotte has been on my brain since I published chapter 3. I am liking where this story is going and I hope you guys do, too. I haven't had any reviews that said otherwise. Drop one for me if you have a comment or concern. **

**Lisolotte**

It was weird to see such vital information written in Charlotte's delicate hand and in purple pen no less. There it was though, the address of the witch who would be able to help them. On a separate sheet was the spell itself. That had been entrusted to Charlotte to take care of. Elijah had mumbled something about her "holding onto things forever."

Now was the matter of finding the witch. They had a location, but they were not sure how to go about contacting her. Charlotte wanted to go on her own, but that would mean one less person to ensure that Klaus would not die. Elijah and Charlotte had been arguing rather seriously about it, with Rebekah interrupting every so often to prevent bloodshed.

Caroline took this opportunity to sit down next to Klaus. "So, any chance you could explain to me why Elijah and Charlotte hate each other so much? We are all dying to know, but too afraid to ask."

Klaus laughed bitterly at this. "I applaud your bravado, Ms. Forbes, but it would take more than that to drag the answer out of me. You've been punishing me for taking Tyler's body since I admitted it to you. But now you are smiles and charm because you want something only I can give you. It doesn't work that way. I wouldn't betray Charlotte just to satisfy your whims. She might just be the only person in the world who has never betrayed me. I don't take that lightly. Her secrets are hers to disclose if she so chooses. Don't forget that she is working to save not just my life, but the lives of you and all your friends. I didn't ask to be put in Tyler's body. It was either do that or die. That would have meant your death too, sweetheart, so you should be pretty grateful that I did. I didn't even use it to my advantage and woo you. No, I was honest. So enough with the victim act and how about leaving me alone for a while?"

Caroline was stunned by the speech. Klaus had never spoken so harshly to her and she had taken it for granted. "Been saving that up for the right moment?" she asked him as her face hardened in anger.

"Maybe I have. Either way, I would love just an hour where you are not affecting my mood. So, why don't you go mourn the _great _loss of Tyler Lockwood somewhere or go chat with Elena about how difficult it is that I fancy you?"

Caroline's face crumpled a little. She wouldn't say that she had feelings for Klaus, but she certainly didn't like this new attitude he had taken with her. She went to go compose herself in the bathroom and to have a nice hard think about how she was going to move forward with all of this.

The question still remained in everyone's mind: who was Charlotte? They had small pieces of information, but that did not mean they even had a clue. Elena was the most curious. It had been strongly implied that she had an interest in Elena's life, but the girl had never heard of the older vampire before today. When Charlotte and Elijah took a break from arguing, Elena took the chance to try and talk with Charlotte alone.

"Hi," Elena said timidly.

Charlotte looked at her in complete surprise for a second. Then she shook her head and said "Hi," to Elena in a slightly questioning tone. "Do you need something?"

"Well, I just wanted to know who you are to me. If you don't mind talking to me."

Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I want to have this conversation with you, Elena. I do. I can't do it right now though. We need to get Klaus righted first. Then we can work on this." Charlotte laughed heartily. She looked at Elena with a slight smile. "I keep saying that, don't I? It is just the truth. One thing at a time. Right now, I am just trying to get in contact with this witch Gloria suggested, but I have to contend with other personalities. Please don't fret about it. It will all be clear soon."

Charlotte walked calmly over to Elijah. She put up her hands. "I come in peace this time. I swear it. I don't want to fight with you. Please, Elijah," the pleading tone in her voice was heartbreaking. Elijah's composure cracked just a fraction. "I want to get as much of this out of the way as quickly as possible. I have been living a wonderful, quiet life for the past 75 years. I needed that. I don't want to jump back into this drama and intrigue."

Elijah reached out and stroked her cheek, willing her to not cry. There were so many words he had for this beautiful, wonderful girl. No, that wasn't right. Girl was not right. Charlotte was certainly a woman. She was fierce and strong and perfect. She deserved to be protected and pampered. Instead she was now shouldering the burden of all this drama. Because of his siblings and Elijah himself she had been drawn into this mire. She was the only one who could right it at this point, unfortunately. "Lottie, I don't want you to get hurt. It is too risky for you to go off on your own and find this witch. Let us help you."

Charlotte leaned into Elijah's hand for a second and closed her eyes. She stayed like that for just a moment and they straightened herself. She stepped just slightly out of Elijah's reach. "Don't, Elijah," she said almost silently. "I can't dance this dance with you. I don't have the energy. You know where I stand. And you can't erase everything with a few tender looks and sweet words. I can do this. I am not the simple teenage girl you met. I am a 1000 year old vampire. I am incredibly strong. I have made a point of never being helpless again. Stop fighting me."

The moment of tenderness between the two had passed. They had both removed themselves behind masks of indifference. The argument could have continued forever, but the door opening rendered the whole conversation moot.

In waltzed Kol with a woman in her mid-30s following close behind him. She had close cropped black hair with deep brown eyes and chocolate skin. She had an obvious resemblance to Gloria. Particularly when she was younger.

"Hello, sweets," Kol drawled and sauntered over to Charlotte. He picked her up and spun her around. A giggle escaped from her and she hugged Kol close.

"What would even make you think I would be calmed down by now?" she asked him laughingly.

"Ah, so my siblings have already sold me down the river in an attempt to gain favor with you. What scoundrels! They are simply too jealous of the pure joy you and I take in each other's presence." Charlotte laughed at his audacity and shook her head. "But to answer your question, sweets, I did not even think that you were calm by now. I was notified that there was something I could do to be of service in this whole mess so I got right on it because I love you so. You know, I am the only Mikaelson you are not feuding with for a reason."

"Enough of that," she chided gently. "Bringing up topics like that won't guarantee that you continue to be. So who is this that you have brought for a visit?"

Kol turned to the woman who was standing quietly near the door. "This is Rachel. I believe you were directed towards her."

A wry smile crossed Klaus's face. "How would you know that, brother?"

"I texted him asking for his help," Jeremy said matter of factly. All eyes were on him and not all the looks were flattering. "What?" he asked. "It is not like you guys were any close to finding her. I thought Kol could help us."

"So you two stayed in contact after your blossoming bromance in Colorado?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, Damon, we did. Not that it is any of your business," Jeremy responded.

"Baseball is the American pastime, Damon. It bonds us together," Kol said with a huge grin on his face.

Charlotte stepped between the two vampires who had been slowly moving towards one another. "There will be no fighting in my house. Absolutely none," she said with finality. "We have a goal in mind and it does not involve fighting with each other." She turned to Rachel. "How much has Kol told you?"

"Everything," Rachel responded calmly. "And I will be willing to help you. There are just a few things that I will need to get together before we go through with this. That is my most important thing: do not rush me."

"Bonnie Bennett was able to pull this all together on the fly and you need time to get it together. That does not sound right to me," Damon said.

"Quiet," Charlotte commanded.

"Bonnie Bennett did this recklessly with little or no forethought. I am told that retaining the boy whose body Klaus is in is of vital importance. Not only that, but Klaus's body is not in any state to be inhabited right now. So, yes, I need some time to do this right," Rachel said coolly.

"Write out the 'grocery list' as I am sure Charlotte will call it. We are yours to command when it comes to getting this spell done and over with," Elijah said stepping behind Charlotte very clearly stating where his alliance lied without words. Everyone but Charlotte noted this immediately.

They were making so much progress toward their goal. Unfortunately, this was the time that Gloria decided to arrive and demand that Charlotte fulfill the promise that she had made in order to get Rachel's name.


	5. Advice Is Easier Given

**Sorry about the delay. I know I said once a day. I am going to try and stick with that, but weekends might be a little more difficult. However, I have planned out how I would like to write out the first phase of this fic so perhaps, I can keep to my word.**

**Please review! I hate to beg and I won't blackmail you, but I would love to know what you guys are thinking. You can PM me if you want, I will definitely respond. Until then, enjoy.**

**Lisolotte**

"Tell her, Charlotte. Please, she has to know. I won't ask anything more of you," Gloria pleaded.

Charlotte was the only one who could see her, but everyone noticed how she had stopped short of Kol. "Not right now, Gloria. Please," Charlotte pleaded.

"Gloria?" Rachel said incredulously. "No one mentioned my grandmother. Where is she? I was told I needed to work a spell for the Originals. I would not mind having a debt owed to me by the Originals. I don't want anything to do with my grandmother."

There was a hard edge to her voice that surprised everyone in the room. This is exactly what Charlotte had been trying to avoid. She knew that things between Gloria and her granddaughter had been tense. She hadn't realized that Rachel knew nothing of the woman's demise. This made the situation quite complicated. So much worse than it had been before. Charlotte had meant to fulfill her promise to Gloria. Only, she had planned on doing it when there were less things for her to worry about. One day with the Mikaelsons and she was neck deep in problems.

She slowly turned to Rachel. "You are needed to work a spell for the Mikaelsons. A rather important one at that," she started. "Your grandmother was the one that recommended you to us. She said you were the most experienced witch she knew," a sad smile crossed her face and she stepped closer to Rachel, ready to catch the girl or take her anger: whatever the reaction might be. "Gloria is dead, Rachel. That is why we needed you instead of her. Her last wish was that we tell you how much she loved you."

Rachel started to shake her head violently. "Don't try and tell me that. I won't believe it. Don't you think I want to? All I have wanted in my life is to truly believe that she loved me. That woman could not love another human being. I know it's wrong to speak ill of the dead, but I am glad she is not resting peacefully. I hope she has to watch me every day and see how happy I am without her in my life."

Charlotte saw the betrayal that Rachel carried with her in every cell of her being. Gloria had spoken to her before of the strained relationship between her and her granddaughter. She was glad for that. She would not want to have to have one, or both, rehash the whole thing in order for her to understand. It also meant that the rest of the people in the room need not know anything more than Rachel was willing to say. Rachel and Gloria had been incredibly close, until the girl's sixteenth birthday. It was at this time that her powers began to fully bloom and that was what drove them apart. Rachel was an incredibly strong witch and the opportunity of it tempted Gloria to use it to her own advantage. Now, nearly 20 years later, the wound still bled for Rachel. The betrayal was so painful that she was still raging to this day.

Charlotte gave Rachel a sad smile and said, "It feels better to say it, doesn't it?" Rachel nodded meekly, tears now running down her face. "It only feels better for a while, Rachel. Believe me. I have been carrying around some of my anger for over 1000 years. It hasn't healed me. It has eaten me up inside. Every single day, I am unhappy. It is to the point that I cannot stand to be around other people. I have effectively become a hermit. Is that what you want out of life, bitterness? Because let me tell you, it is cold comfort. No matter how wronged you feel."

Rachel looked at Charlotte, but stayed silent. Almost as if she didn't know what she could possibly say to respond to what Charlotte was saying. She knew the vampire was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to listen. What good did it do to forgive someone who was already dead and who she could never see again?

"I can help you, if you want," Charlotte offered. "I can give you the opportunity to say goodbye to her properly. It wouldn't mean that your slate was clear with the Mikaelsons, they would still owe you a favor. I would just be fulfilling a promise I made. Do you want it, Rachel?"

"Yes," Rachel said in the tiniest voice. Jeremy, with his human ears, couldn't even hear the response, but he saw how the group visibly relaxed once the vampires heard her say that one word.

True to her word, Charlotte helped Gloria to appear one last time to her granddaughter. The two spoke quietly to each other apart from the group and the vampires tried politely to hear none of what passed between the two. Two hours later, Gloria kissed her granddaughter goodbye and nodded in thanks to Charlotte. Then, she was gone.

Rachel went off with the Salvatores, Gilberts, Klaus and Kol to look at what she would need in preparation for the spell. Rebekah and Caroline went off to find food, for themselves and Elena; the boys could fend for themselves.

That left Elijah and Charlotte alone in the room that had moments before been full to the gills. The silence fell heavy between them.

"Nice advice you gave to that girl, Lottie. Too bad you didn't take it in to consideration yourself," Elijah whispered harshly. His face was a mask of rage.

"I'm too far gone, Elijah. 1000 years is a long time and the hurts done then are too deep to be forgiven."

"Surely, you cannot believe that," he responded. "Your deepest wish to reconcile my family, but you cannot forget your hurts."

"Don't start with me."

"I don't want to start anything. I want to end this. After 1000 years, Charlotte, I just want peace. I want the life that we all dreamed about. I want to wake up happy and amazed at the beauty in this world. I don't want every single one of us carrying our bitterness and guilt around like a weight. Cannot you not help me achieve that?"

"Enough," she said tears forming in her eyes. "I can't do this right now. And I won't. Allowing them their goodbyes has tired me. I must feed. Another time, Elijah."

"You mean, after we are done with all this business and you go back to hiding from all of us? Would that be a good time for you, Charlotte? I tried to give you time to be ready. Surely, 1000 years is enough time to calm down enough to talk."

"It will never be enough, Elijah," she bit out. "I died that day. You cannot possibly imagine how I felt. Don't pretend that you have been waiting for my sake."

"Enough," Elijah said tiredly. "I will keep waiting, then. I will wait forever if I have to, Lottie. I meant every word I said to you."

Charlotte could not bring herself to respond to his last remark and instead of doing so, simply left.


	6. Bring Me the Body

Everyone had stayed the night in Charlotte's house, for safety reasons. It had not been equipped to house 11 people though and space had been scarce. Rebekah, Caroline, Elena and Charlotte had ended up sharing Charlotte's bed. The boys had spread out from that point to various couches and soft spots on the floor. Rachel had taken the guest bedroom to pour over the spell and figure out what they would need in the morning.

They had risen one by one and got ready for the day ahead of them. By the time it was 11:00am, Charlotte was the only one still abed. The group began to grow tense waiting for her.

Caroline made a move to go and wake Charlotte. Kol laughed. "I wouldn't suggest waking her. She can be downright beastly if disturbed. Learned that the hard way. Earned myself a nice scar in the process. It's best to just wait for her to wake up."

"Seriously?" Jeremy asked. "Isn't the fate of all our lives resting on this? Seems like something important enough to wake her up for."

"She's so tired because she spent last night breaking into Gloria's stores of supplies in order to make it easier for Rachel to start. Seems to me like she's earned **her** extra sleep," Charlotte said from the doorway with rumpled hair. She smiled winningly. "At least you have the grace to blush." She winked at the beat red Jeremy. "So," she said clapping her hands together. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Probably getting my body back," Klaus offered. "Rachel is working on the spell and you were so kind as to get her all the ingredients. Not much else we can do for now."

"Damon and I left it in Mystic Falls. I couldn't bear to look at it. It should still be in the storage center there," Rebekah said.

"Perfect," Charlotte smiled. "Damon and I will go get it then."

"Is she always this bossy?" Damon asked.

"Always," Klaus smiled.

"So, I guess it's settled," Stefan offered.

"Any chance that we're deciding this because Elijah isn't currently here?" Damon asked.

Rebekah smiled. "Figured out how it works already?

"Honestly, it is probably the best plan. Damon and Rebekah know where it is. Of the two of you, Damon makes more sense to leave. No offense, but she is **much** stronger than you are. He needs a good protector though. Can't trust him to get it back here on his own. One pack of pissed off 500 year old vampires attack him and no more Klaus's body for us," Elijah said from the doorway. "And for all of us to go to Mystic Falls would be inviting an attack. So we need the body as quickly and quietly as possible."

Charlotte smiled gratefully for him. "Let's go then," she said smiling at Damon with infectious excitement.

Charlotte sat in the passenger seat as Damon drove. She was painting her nails and humming.

"You sure are chipper now that you are away from everyone else. Have you just been dying to get me alone?" He wiggled his eyebrows for effect after saying that.

Charlotte smiled. "Not quite. The Originals just bring up a lot of the past that I don't like to think about. You, however," she said while poking him in the arm, "are a stranger. I enjoy meeting new people. Particularly when they aren't ghosts demanding I do something for them. I also love road trips. America has always been a beautiful country, but I love to see how it's changed." A huge smile broke out across her face and Damon could not help responding with one that was genuine like hers, rather than his usual sardonic one.

"Tell me about yourself," Damon said softly.

Charlotte smiled. She liked Damon. When she saw him, she saw the sweet Southern gentleman that Emily Bennett had told her of. All that cynicism and bitterness that he hid behind melted away. Charlotte was not that naïve though. She knew who he really was. "You first," she said with a jaunty smile. "We both know my information is more valuable so I will need to see if I can trust you first."

"And telling you about myself will do that?"

Charlotte nodded. "I value honesty. I know certain things about you from my dealings with the dead. I want to see how honest you can be with me," she leaned toward him conspiratorially. "It dictates how honest I will be with you."

Few people put their trust immediately in Damon, especially those who knew anything about him like Charlotte was claiming. It endeared her to him almost immediately. He decided to take a chance and disclose his history fully to her. He started with his birth in Mystic Falls, his brother's birth and mother's death, going to war, deserting, Katherine (he spent so much time on Katherine), from 1864 to his return in Mystic Falls in 2009 and finished with the events that had transpired since that arrival. His grand conclusion was the conversation with Klaus that lead them to Chicago in search of Charlotte.

After finishing his story, he and Charlotte had been driving for 5 hours. Damon felt relieved to be so honest with someone. The closest he had come to that was his friendship with Alaric. Esther, that witch, had taken his best friend from him. Damon realized how alone he was in the world. "So," he asked Charlotte with a cock of his eyebrow, "have I passed your test?"

She smiled shyly. Charlotte meant what she said, but she hadn't expected Damon to be so honest with her. She was flattered and knew that she had to do the same. "More than you know. Let's stop for a bite to eat, and I will be just as honest with you. Although, I might have to tell you a more abbreviated version."

"Don't tell me you are one of those bleeding hearts who won't feed from humans." Charlotte shook her head. "Blood banks?" Another shake of her head.

"I drink from the source, but I am particular about it."

"Why is that?"

"I have never killed an innocent human being. Never drank them dry. I only take enough to satisfy my thirst. It means I have to feed more often, but I am stronger than another vampire who must hide do to their sloppy eating."

"You have **never** killed?" Damon asked incredulous.

"I have killed before. Just not while feeding from an innocent. I am a ruthless and brutal fighter, Damon. I had to be when first turned. But don't make me get ahead of my story."

Damon had followed Charlotte's example and while it wasn't his favorite, it was vastly preferable to Stefan's bunny rabbit diet. They returned to the car and he waited for her to begin her story.

"The only thing I ask of you is that you keep this to yourself. Otherwise, I cannot be as honest with you. I am willing to tell you everything. I mean **everything**. However, that means you will know things I have kept to myself for my whole life. You will know more than any of the Originals. I want to trust you, Damon. You were incredibly honest with me. Please," she said her voice cracking. "Can I trust you?" she asked.

All he could do was nod.

"I was born Charlotte Petrova. When I was 2, my parents gave me a younger sister, Tatia." A look of shock spread across Damon's face. Charlotte smiled. "I see you've heard of her. Well, you have no idea. We grew up closer than you could imagine. My sister was selfish and I was proud, but we saw through each other's flaws. I could always rely on her. We met the Mikaelsons when we came to the new world. At this point, Tatia was 16 and I was 18. She had already had her daughter, which was why we had moved. Our parents had thought to disown Tat, but when I would not leave her, they decided to leave as a family and start a new life. It was in the new world that we met the Mikaelsons," she paused here.

After a moment of calming herself, she started again. "I fell head over heels in love with Elijah. He was so gentlemanly, which was attractive, but he had fire in his soul. Once alone, he would show his true self. We had the most amazing conversations under the moonlight about duty, responsibility, and what we wanted from the world. He was my perfect man," a wistful smile crossed her face and Damon knew what was coming next. Elijah and Klaus had mentioned that Tatia had come between them. "We were married before I turned 19, an old maid at that time. We had 3 happy months together." Tears began to run down her face at this point.

Damon couldn't believe it. No wonder she was so upset with Elijah. If Damon was in her place, he would have murdered them all. He didn't take betrayal lightly. How much worse could this story get? What else had they done to her?

"I was pregnant with our first child when I noticed something changing in his behavior." Damon clenched the steering wheel tightly. "It wasn't until I was 7 months along that I found out what he and my sister had been up to behind my back," a sound of pure grief escaped her. "I ran. I hid until my daughter's birth. Then I gave her up. I would not have the Mikaelsons ruining her life like they did mine. Once I knew my daughter was safe, I returned to face them all. I told them I had lost the babe. They believed it readily enough. I moved in with my parents rather than returning to my marital home.

"I'm sure you know all about the changing of the Mikaelsons. I know that you all disposed of Mikael finally." Damon nodded in assent. "Never liked that man. He took a shining to me. His last act was to visit me. He had nothing left for his children. Of course not," she rolled her eyes. "Well, I am the first vampire turned, not made like the Mikaelsons were."

Here Damon interrupted her. "Elijah didn't dare to turn you, did he?"

Charlotte laughed heartily. "No, no. The first to figure out the process was Rebekah. She turned me. She was so loyal to me that she remained separate from her brothers for 40 years while we adjusted, in spite of her promise to remain with them always and forever. I couldn't do that to her though, so I went on my own-"

Here, Charlotte was interrupted in her story by a group of people standing in the road. She recognized the head of the group as a vampire Klaus had turned back in 1740. He had more than a 100 years on Damon. The rest of his group could not boast the same.

She turned to Damon with a bloodthirsty grin on her face. "I'm about to show you how great a fighter I am. Ready?"


	7. Hijinks Ensue

** First off, this story reached 500 views since I posted chapter 6 last night. I am awestruck. I am so excited, that I am planning to make this chapter and extra juicy when it comes to details of Charlotte's life. I am not planning on giving everything away, but you guys are inspiring me to share more than I originally planned.**

** I would like to thank everyone who put the story on alert. Dear CalligraphersNib, lets-not-go-there, Man-Suz-She, MarygenLynn, SilentlyDeadly, WriterGirl911, it makes my face warm to know that you like the story this much.**

** To those who favorite, jasminahmed, Man-Suz-She, Mishi-boo, WriterGirl911, let's be best friends. This kind of stuff is why I can update so quickly.**

** As for the reviewers:**

** Man-Suz-She: Here's another update for you!**

** KK: I hope I answered a few questions for you about their past.**

** Mishi- boo: Your review made me smile so hard that my face hurt. Seriously, thank you so much for motivating me.**

** Extra note: last chapter was 1,864 words. A special portent for what is in store for this chapter.**

**Lisolotte**

Damon wished he could describe to another person what seeing Charlotte fight was like. He really did try and pay attention so he could explain it when they all reunited. It seemed like vital information. The thing was, she was far too good for him to be able to get an idea. She was out the car first and before Damon could blink, she had killed the three surrounding the head vampire. The man snarled and stepped back, immediately betraying any sense that he wasn't intimidated by Charlotte.

"How did you find us, Karl?" she snarled at him. Damon was amazed to note that she was covered in the blood of the men whose hearts she had ripped out, but she was not in vamp face. In spite of her obvious anger and bloodlust, she was able to maintain control.

The other vampire did not answer, so Charlotte walked up to him and ripped of his left arm. She held it close to the wound. Damon watched in horror as the arm tried to reattach itself. With the tenuous healing started, Charlotte ripped it off once more.

She stepped closer to the vampire, whom she had identified as Karl, and his composure cracked. She trailed a blood soaked finger down his cheek as he began to cry. "Just tell me and it will all be over," she whispered to him. He began to shake. "Big bad Karl stops us on the road and reduced to tears in under a minute. That doesn't suit. Come on," she goaded. "You were bad enough to stop us. Make a move. Try and kill me. Or is it something else you want?"

Genuine tears began to stream down his face. "I didn't know it was going to be you, Charlotte. I would never have come if it was you."

A truly disturbing smile bloomed across Charlotte's face. "So, you remember me. Just tell me who sent you."

"I don't know, Charlotte. I don't."

"If you won't be useful, then," with that, Charlotte removed his head from his body for him. She turned to Damon. She took his hand and upon their physical connection, he heard her voice in his head. "Follow my lead. I have a feeling I know what's going on. Don't say a thing aloud. No one knows who can hear us."

"Damon," she said out loud. "I guess we should keep going. We will have to deal with what we encounter as we go along. We need to get as far as we can tonight."

They both returned to their seats in the car. Damon had insisted on driving still. He was definitely trying to calm himself down. He wasn't scared of Charlotte, he was just amazed at the violence she contained in her small body. She was leagues beyond Katherine. Katherine was all cunning and tricks. Charlotte was the real deal. She fought those men by herself and won handily.

"Do you mind continuing?" Damon asked gently.

"Of course," Charlotte answered. "As I said, Rebekah and I separated. She returned to her brothers, to deal with her father, and I decided to find myself. I had been raised to be a wife and have children. I had done both and failed miserably," here she paused. "I had this amazing opportunity to go beyond that. I had all of eternity to heal those wounds, but I needed to know myself first. It sounds hokey, but it was cathartic. I didn't even establish a home for the first 100 years. I was a pure nomad with nothing to my name. For a while, I didn't even use my name. It was like I left that whole life behind me. I learned to fight. Ruthlessly."

Here Damon let out a noise that was somewhere between laughing and scoffing.

"So you noticed," she said with a small smile and Damon nodded in assent. "I studied any warrior I came across. It was easier to learn from them now that I had to powers of a vampire to aid me. I learned every muscle in my body. Weapons were not relied on at that time, they were an aid. With my increased strength, hand to hand combat was vital.

"Then, word came to me about the dire situation with Finn. He and I had never been close, but I loved the Mikaelsons dearly. Inspire of all my issues with them, I couldn't hide from the fact that there was a serious problem coming up between them. I mean, how could Finn be sure that he wanted to die forever? So, I went back to them." Tears formed in her eyes once more. "I almost fell for it. With my sister dead, I could almost forget that Elijah had betrayed me so. His presence was like a salve to my wounded heart. I wanted to drink him in and never leave him again. But," her voice cracked here. "I can never forget, Damon."

"What do you mean, Charlotte?"

"She showed up. She didn't even have the good grace to allow us to heal. Tatia began haunting me. I couldn't look at him after that. Once I saw Finn safely daggered, I ran for the hills once again. Did I think daggering him was the best choice? Certainly not. I couldn't allow him to assist Mikael in murdering all of us though. I know, it sounds like I am justifying all of this. Maybe I am. All I know is that 900 years ago, it was the only choice. It was something I had to accept about being what we are. As a vampire, it comes down to do or die sometimes. No matter how distasteful the choices can be. After that, the Mikaelsons were mostly at peace with one another. Kol went off on his own to do whatever it is that Kol does. And Rebekah stayed with Elijah and Klaus to look for the doppelganger. They left me alone for 200 years. I spent that time experimenting with my powers.

"Did you know, Damon, how much a vampire gains by using his powers frequently? Age does wondrous things and grains new powers, but use makes them more potent. It is true for all powers that vampires possess. I spent 200 years learning about being a psychic, if you will." She stopped to glance at a road sign. "Have we really gone that far already? Do you mind stopping, Damon? I am awful hungry."

Damon obliged. They pulled off at a gas station and he began to fill the car.

"Where was I?" she asked. "Oh, yes. The thing about me is, I am not actually a psychic. My powers run deeper than that. I have learned so much since then." She reached out and grabbed something. Slowly Katherine came into Damon's view. "I can smell a ghost a mile away."

"Katherine?" Damon asked.

Charlotte smiled and shook her head at him like he was a child who asked a silly question.

"Tatia," he stated.

"I had a feeling that someone was feeding information about us," Charlotte told him gripping her sister.

"How are you containing her?" he asked.

"I have made her just substantial enough that she cannot leave. Useful trick. As I was saying, someone was talking. I didn't assume it was anyone of your ilk. It made no sense. Why risk their own lives and those of all their friends? But I know about ghosts. If inclined to help, the ghosts can make a marvelous spy network." She looked her sister full in the eyes for the first time. "What are you trying to betray me once more, Tatia?" she asked with venom.

"I was trying to help."

"Lies."

"I was only giving them half information, Lottie. I swear it. I figured better me tell them a doctored truth rather than find a ghost who will tell them everything. I want to make things right."

"Don't," Charlotte said in the same hard voice she used with Elijah. "Have you been listening to all the secrets I shared with Damon?"

"I don't need to listen, Lottie. I have been following you since I died. Just far enough away for you to not notice me on a good day, but close enough for me to keep watch. I already know all your secrets."

"Do not, Tatia. It is not fair. Stay the hell away from me. Tell them I caught you. I don't care what you have to say. Tell them sending another ghost to follow me is a death sentence. The dead are mine to command, Tatia. You certainly must know that."

"I would rather stay with you, Lottie."

Fresh tears rather down Charlotte's face and she allowed Tatia to fade. Damon crouched down next to her and just held her. He stroked her hair gently until she calmed down. "Have you ever talked about this before?" he asked her in his smallest voice.

Charlotte just shook her head at first. "No, I have kept it all inside. I could be mad at all of them, but it would just be a drain on me. I just cannot forgive Elijah and Tatia. I trusted them most in the world. They were the people closest to me."

"I understand, baby, I do."

Charlotte ignored his term of endearment because it felt so good to be comforted by him. He brought her a young man and they both filled up just enough to keep going and send him on his merry, if dazed, way.

Damon placed Charlotte in the passenger seat and told her to sleep. When she woke up, they had already reached Virginia.

Charlotte woke up slowly and saw the familiar land. It was not the same place it had been when she was human, but in her bones she felt home. This was the place her life took meaning. It was also a place of unbearable pain.

"Almost there. Then back to the big bad Windy City for more magic and yelling," Damon offered seeing that she was finally awake.

Charlotte noticed that he had reverted to an impassive attitude towards the whole trip. She couldn't figure out if it was because he was trying to respect her feelings or if his tenderness with her had shocked him. Maybe it was both of those reasons.

"But Peter," she said in a startlingly strong British accent, "I don't want to go home. I want to stay in Neverneverland with you forever. We shall just airmail them the body and then travel together until we get sick of each other's faces."

"As nice as that sounds," Damon said in his regular voice, "we did promise to see this through. We should probably just get Klaus back to normal. Then we can have the real fun," he said to her with a wicked grin. "Here we are. God help us if the body isn't here."

They walked into the storage facility carefully. It seemed normal and safe, but that didn't mean a thing. As they neared the designated storage locker, they grew more and more cautious. As Damon was opening the door, Charlotte heard a thump within. Rather than be caught off guard, she dove in and got the offender by the throat.

"Tatia?" Damon asked.

Charlotte shook her head. "Katherine."


	8. Oh, Brother

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Damon asked the vampire while she was still in Charlotte's grip.

"Is that even a question?" Katherine responded. She acted as if everything was normal and she was not a mere squeeze away from Charlotte crushing here neck. "I made you and Stefan vampires, Rose turned me, Mary turned her, and Klaus turned her. If Klaus dies, I die just the same as you and your little group of friends. I was keeping watch."

Damon laughed at this. "You expect me to believe that you have just been sitting here since the body got staked? That would take the patience and temperament of a saint. You are not even close. Not to mention you would be mummified."

"How about your little friend lets me down and I'll explain myself," Katherine snapped back. She was definitely irritated by the fact that Charlotte had not put her down.

Charlotte finally spoke. "I am not his little _friend_," she said with as much derision as that one word could hold. "I am someone you should be very afraid of." Charlotte gently squeezed Katherine's throat. Well, she squeezed it gently to how hard she could squeeze it. Katherine tried to fight out of her grasp and realized how strong Charlotte truly was.

"Okay," she said in a wheezy voice. "I understand."

Charlotte dropped her unceremoniously. She ignored Katherine's showboating performance on the floor and she began to cough and whimper in pain. She turned her attention to the coffin. She checked inside and saw the ashen corpse of Klaus, but it was in better shape than she expected.

"Explain in the car," she said to Katherine. "We need to put as much distance between Mystic Falls and ourselves."

"We'll be fine," she said in response. "In all the time I have been here, no one has tried to even check on the body."

"We have already encountered some friends on the road, so humor us," Damon snarked at Katherine.

"Play nice, children," Charlotte said and let the way.

~AHC~

"Is it really normal for one person to sleep that much?" Katherine asked again.

"As I have told you four times now, she is not a normal person. And it's still none of your business."

Damon and Katherine had been bickering intermittently throughout the car drive. Since they had left Mystic Falls, Charlotte had been sleeping. At least, it seemed that she had been sleeping the whole time. The few times she had woken up, she feigned sleeping to stay out of the argument between the two. She had enough of her own messy personal drama to deal with. She also figured that she should be well rested once someone did attack them. She assumed they would. It would be absurd to hope that Tatia had squashed all hope of that. The Tatia issue had been bugging her, too. Sleeping meant not having to think about it. Her dreams were filled with the issues that had been plaguing her though. The worst had been one where they were all dressed up for a ball. The ladies lined the wall and waited for their escorts. First Kol came to collect a dark haired girl with a wicked grin. Finn and Sage were already on the dance floor looking over the moon with happiness. Klaus offered his arm to Caroline. She thought it was Klaus, but then it was Tyler. The two were vying for control, perhaps. Jeremy escorted a lovely dark haired girl who Charlotte assumed was the Bennett girl. The Salvatore brothers arrived and Elena took one on each arm. Elijah was dancing with Tatia, although it might be Katherine. He was casting glances at Elena who was dancing with both Salvatore brothers simultaneously. The girl dancing with Kol winked at both Salvatores like they shared an old secret. Damon was casting suggestive looks at Rebekah who stood against the wall with Charlotte. Charlotte tried as she might, but she could not catch anyone's eye. They continued to dance this way until Damon broke from Elena. Instead of dancing with Rebekah, he came up to Charlotte and asked her "can you keep it all straight? Do you really think any of them can love you? Why are you standing alone then?" Charlotte looked past his shoulder to see the ballroom filled with dancers and Rebekah among them. He turned from Charlotte and danced with Elena or Tatia or Katherine. Whoever it was, she was not Charlotte. Instead, she stood alone.

There were things you could read into the dream; Charlotte knew that. Some of those things might even be true. Didn't mean all of them were. Charlotte just wrote it off as her subconscious overworking. Vampires had a subconscious, right? They slept. They didn't have to as often, but still. It wasn't like they completely changed how their human bodies worked; they just evolved. Minor changes were made instead of a revolution of how the whole body worked. She definitely still had a subconscious. Charlotte was definitely overthinking this. She was getting too far into her own head for this.

She opened her eyes and looked at the landscape out the window. She knew she had said that she loved to see America and how it changed, but really she just wanted to be home now. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to sit by the lake and just be. She knew now if she were to sit by the lake, she would be plagued with thoughts and worries. This really was the tubes.

"I'm just asking, Damon. Remember when you used to be so sweet and fun? You would do anything I want. Now you are so grumpy and bitter. I don't like it one bit." Katherine reached forward to stroke Damon's ear.

"You do one thing to make him crash this car and I will use you as my footrest when we get to my home in Chicago," Charlotte threatened.

"Sleeping Beauty awakes. Or should I liken you to the dragon?" Katherine responded.

"We're on our way to Chicago where we will join a large group of people including Klaus, who I am pretty sure still has an issue with you. The only standing between him and your heart in his hand is me. You should probably liken me to your fairy godmother." She turned in her seat to look Katherine in the eyes when she said, "You should be so sweet to me that my mouth starts to ache. I could change my mind at any time."

"I'm trying to help you guys!" Katherine said with a shocked expression crossing her face. "You should be grateful to me. Why am I being treated like I am being held prisoner?"

"Because we don't really like you," Damon responded immediately.

"And while we appreciate that you guarded the body, we don't really need you. Sure, having a 500 year old vampire on our side would be helpful, but let me clear things up for you, we don't need you."

"Who are you?" Katherine asked.

"Charlotte Petrova-Mikaelson," Damon said.

"That is **not** my name," Charlotte snapped.

"Whatever. The point is she is Tatia Petrova's sister and Elijah Mikaelson's super angry estranged wife. She is the one who is going to save all our asses."

"We're not doing this, Katherine. I made a promise not to lie to Damon. Katherine and I know each other. She knows exactly how I am."

Katherine sighed. "You would go full disclosure. There's no position of power with that, Charlie."

"Well, _Kathy_, I don't need a position of power when it comes to that. There's no harm in Damon knowing that we know each other."

"People are going to ask questions, Charlie. Like why you would be friends with someone who looks exactly like your dearly despised sister."

Charlotte smiled. "Just because people have questions doesn't mean I have to answer them, sweetie. I will tell Damon though. Not right now."

"Why Damon? Almost anyone else would pick Stefan. Wait, they already have."

Damon reached back to attack Katherine and the car swerved. Charlotte reached to steady the car. "Damon," she said. "DAMON!"

"Little busy removing a slutty vampire problem."

"Maybe you should put that on the backburner and stop the car. We've got company."


	9. Welcome Back to the Windy City

**Hey guys, I am sorry, but I am having a little bit of writer's block. I know where it is going to go after this, but I need some inspiration to keep updating, especially so often. I cracked 1,000 views to the story, but I haven't had a review since Chapter 6 almost a whole week ago. Any chance I can ask you guys to review, please?**

** I would like to thank QueenofElphame, justsummer, sev1415, twilighter169, SexyInu and nluvwithemmettcullen for following and/or favoriting this story. I am glad you guys like it that much.**

**Lisolotte**

"Stay with the body. Both of you," Charlotte demanded.

"Are you kidding?" Damon asked. "There are about 20 guys out there. Why would you go out there alone?"

"We are nothing without that body. Who knows if these guys are just here to distract us? Both of you combined would probably be able to keep it here if someone attacks. Just let me handle this," she responded.

"Damon," Katherine said softly. "Just listen to Charlotte. She has more experience than either of us. Just let her do it."

Damon simply nodded and watched as Charlotte got out of the car and walked towards to large group with confidence.

As Charlotte got closer and something struck her as wrong. She was almost completely to the group when she realized what that was. They weren't people ready to attack them at all. They were ghosts that someone had made close enough to solid in order to make them appear menacing. Katherine and Damon were in the middle of a trap that someone set. She took off at a run as best as she could. She chose to run over the car rather than around. She prayed they were safe. She couldn't bear the guilt if her foolhardiness had killed them.

She landed near the trunk of the car and face to face with a bald vampire who was very surprised to see her. Katherine and Damon continued to keep themselves between the coffin and the bald stranger.

"They should have fooled you at least until you landed your first hit," he said to Charlotte.

She shrugged. "Maybe you underestimated me. Or maybe I recognized one of them. I have been dealing with the dead for a very long time. I applaud the effort, but you fell short."

"I know how to admit when I have lost. I'll just be on my way."

He turned to move and as he did, Charlotte beheaded him. "I think not," she told his corpse as it fell to the ground. She turned to face Damon and Katherine. "Close this trunk and let's get on our way. Chances are they won't launch another attack for a little while. We need to burn rubber."

~AHC~

"You were pretty ruthless back there," Katherine said.

"You knew I would be," Charlotte responded. "I don't kill innocents, but that doesn't mean I don't kill. That man was here to take that body from us and maybe he was going to kill us. He definitely was not going to leave us better off than he found us. I did what I had to do." After saying that, Charlotte's eyes took on a strange distant look.

"I don't mean to bring up bad feelings, Charlie," Katherine reached forward to clasped Charlotte's hand.

"Isn't this touching? You don't do heartwarming, Katherine. Leave Charlotte out of your little scheme whatever it is. She is better than you and deserves better," Damon snapped.

"Maybe you don't know everything about me, Damon. I have known Charlotte much longer than I have known you. Did it ever cross your mind that I could genuinely be friends with her?"

Damon ignored her. "Watch out for her, Charlotte. She might look like a sweet little girl, but there is a nasty self-serving brat deep down. Don't trust her."

The air in the car became very tense. They did not speak until they crossed into Illinois.

"So close to never having to ride in a car with you again," Damon said cheerfully. "This was an experience that I hope to never have to repeat again." Charlotte looked down in sadness. She had really hoped that she had been right about Damon. "Not you, Charlotte. We had fun. It is your demented great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandniece. Add a few more greats if I was off."

"Enough!" Charlotte finally yelled. "You two are ridiculous. We are not on a joy ride for fun. We are all here because we are trying to keep a large group of people alive. We fail and you both die. We need to take this seriously and keep your own feelings about each other out of it for now. Are we clear?" she asked them.

They both nodded meekly.

~AHC~

"Look, you brought me back my body and the errant doppelganger," Klaus said gleefully. He made a move to restrain Katherine. She quickly ran to hide herself behind Charlotte. "You are faster than me now, but wait until I get my body back Katerina," he threatened. "You have been a pesky problem since I found you. Maybe I should put an end to it."

Charlotte stepped between Katherine and Klaus. "I don't think so, Klaus. Katherine is under my protection. You will not harm a single hair on her pretty little head."

Klaus turned to Charlotte and was completely shocked. "Why would you put yourself between us like that?"

"Katherine is my friend, Klaus. For whatever that is worth to any of you. Not only that, but she is the one who was guarding your body when we got to Mystic Falls. We were attacked and she stayed. She is just as invested as all of us. You have no reason to want to kill her. It is to my understanding that you have already spent considerable time punishing her recently."

Klaus smiled and relaxed considerably. "Okay, if it is that important to you, I will acquiesce. You know how much I value your opinion. Your wish is my command."

"Aw, look, Sweets has Klaus all wrapped around her finger," Kol said.

"Enough, Kol," Charlotte snapped.

"Give me some time to figure out how much I need to do with this body to make it livable again. Klaus is an old vampire so he should be able to heal once he is back in his body. We just need to make it so that he will be able to inhabit it," Rachel said from the doorway.

~AHC~

"Kol, this isn't the best time to talk about this, but it is the first time I have seen you in a long time," Charlotte said quietly.

"Anything for you. I would climb every mountain for you. I would bring you the moon. I would even crawl on my knees," he responded.

"No need for that. It's about _her_," she said seriously. "She's **not** dead, Kol. I think we can get her back if you want. I think there are other people here who might want to know about what is going on."

"What is with the vague statements?"

"Almost everyone in this room is a vampire. They can hear everything we are saying. I want to warn you. Especially because I am in a position where I am going to be painfully honest with Damon Salvatore. I cannot promise that it will remain secret for long."

"That puts me in an awkward position. Any chance I can convince you to _not_ tell him that?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Would go against my moral code."

"You and your moral code. I am going to refrain from the obvious statement about the fact that you and Elijah adhere strictly to your own moral codes. At least I can thank you for the warning. Now tell me the rest. What is our next move?"

Rachel entered the room glowing with pride. "We're ready."


	10. Klaus and Tyler?

**First, I would like to thank TeenWolfWWE for following and favoriting the story, DammitimmaD for following & FreakyGeek13 andTrue TwilightWitch for favoriting.**

**Second, I would like CalligraphersNib for your review. You are the only one who did and I appreciated it so much that I decided to update even though I am still feeling down about the lack of response. To answer your review, I am so glad you liked it and the vague statements were meant to confuse you, but will be important in the future, in a big way! I have adopted Katherine Pierce in that I love the girl and think that she could be an amazing ally to someone. She has just spent so long running and looking out for herself. I am very excited to run with this.**

**In other news, I have decided to keep up with this story, but I would still really like some reviews if you feel obliging. It is nice to just hear your reactions so I know that the things I am trying to get across are coming through clearly. Thanks!**

**Lisolotte.**

They were waiting. Klaus/Tyler had gone in so that Rachel could perform the spell what felt like years ago. Originally, the entire group had gone into the room to watch, but Caroline and Rebekah had each caused such a stir that they had been kindly asked to leave. Then, they had been dragged out practically by their hair. Now, they were all in Charlotte's living room. Stefan had begun to read a book off of her bookshelf. Damon was trying, unsuccessfully, to talk to Elena. Katherine was laughing at him. Jeremy and Kol had started playing the Wii that had suddenly appeared in the house. Elijah was thoughtfully watching Charlotte who was trying to distract Caroline and Rebekah with online shopping.

"That dress is hideous and you know it, Lottie," Rebekah snarled.

"It could be very flattering. I don't know why you have to be so negative about it, Beks. I love that blue. Aegean Blue is on my favorite shades on you. You look like a mermaid. A beautiful and powerful mermaid."

Rebekah smiled begrudgingly, "I guess the color is quite nice. I should like it on another outfit though, that look is not cute on me."

"Rebekah is a pretty mermaid," Caroline whined, "but what am I?"

"Green would look good on you, Caroline. It is the perfect color for a snake," Katherine said cattily. She earned herself a sharp look from Charlotte. "I'm sorry, Caroline, that isn't fair. I am just frustrated. You want something light and mellow. Any pastel would flatter you. That blue would look great on Rebekah, but would probably wash you out. You need something that highlights your buoyant personality. Light colors like an angel."

"Did an alien just take over your body?" Caroline asked.

"Or one of Charlotte's ghosts possess you to dole out fashion sense?" Rebekah added.

Katherine shrugged. "It's true."

"Yes, it is," Charlotte added. "Nothing wrong with Katherine being helpful, right?"

"When it's so sudden, it raises some eyebrows," Elijah said softly.

Charlotte threw him a dark look.

"The girl you all have a problem with is one that has been running for her life for 500 years. Of course she wouldn't be friendly and helpful. She would be doing everything she could to stay alive. That doesn't mean that I was being my true self. I was being the person I needed to be," Katherine defended herself.

Charlotte smiled softly at her. "That is not the girl I know either. I know a wonderful and invaluable friend. Who just might be the best person to go shopping with."

That admission shut down any further discussion of Katherine's motives and her personality. Instead, everyone became absorbed in the light show that was playing itself out in the crack underneath the door of Charlotte's guest room. There had been no sounds of torture or pain coming from there. A whole lot of light had escaped though.

No one was quite sure how helpful that light would be to righting the order within their world. Klaus was nobody's best friend (no matter how much he insisted that he and Stefan were brothers), but he was the evil they knew. As far as they knew, there was no reason for Klaus to harm them anymore. The league of goons who were attempting to kill him posed a real threat. Damon had briefed them about their two attacks on the road, leaving out the parts where Charlotte spilled her soul and secrets to him. No one was comforted by the fact of these attacks, even though Charlotte came out the victory in both, and easily. No one had come to them in Chicago, but had that been because they had been in such great number or because eliminating the body was the easier choice? No one knew the answer to that one.

Charlotte herself was wondering if the man she had killed near the trunk of the car was the one who had been projecting the ghosts. She was almost positive that it could not have been him. Had it been, he would have been more aware of the fact that they failed impress or distract her. That left another person of questionable strength out there who could do what Charlotte could do. Not only that, but they had brought Tatia into this. Charlotte was surprised that her sister had not moved on, to be honest, but she could not summon up pity for the girl who ruined her life. Instead, she tried to figure out who this person could possibly be and how strong they were. This all determined how much they knew about Charlotte. Her abilities were a secret, but not to the dead. She figured that the person had to be a vampire to have projected that many spirits, but they were dumb enough to make them so insubstantial that Charlotte knew once she got close. No matter how secretive she was about her powers, it was a well-known fact that she was a 1,000 year old vampire. In the very least, she was very strong and very fast. In truth, that was only the tip of the iceberg. There were so many other abilities she possessed due to her advanced age. But this was no time to sit and think about all the cool and amazing things that she could do. Instead, Charlotte should be worried about the fact that even once Klaus was in his rightful body, this person could present a very serious threat to their lives. Goddamn Mikaelsons.

Kol paused the game that he and Jeremy were playing. "Is this a good time to talk about your ridiculous moral code and mock you for it?"

Charlotte began to open her mouth to offer a retort, but she was interrupted. The doorknob to the guest room began to turn. Everyone in the room went breathless. Kol winked at Charlotte. "It couldn't be answered the first time. Figured the second time wouldn't be either."

Charlotte laughed nervously.

The answer to who was going to walk through that door was of terrible importance to everyone in the room. It would decide whether or not these people would move together as a group to face what came next. This was a big problem that affected them all, but it was certainly not the last thing that would plague them. If Tyler was gone forever, Caroline would not be able to stand it. It was almost a given that her friends would side with her. The Originals would stick together in spite of all their family drama. Charlotte and Katherine might run off together into the sunset to be the weirdest pair of best friends ever.

Tyler came into view. Well, it was Tyler's body. It was entirely possible that it was Klaus still in his body. Caroline slowly stood up, almost as if she was in a trance. When Klaus clapped a hand on his shoulder and appeared behind him, the whole room left out a deep breath.

Caroline ran and hugged both men at once, surprising everyone and no one at the same time. She was promptly shoved out of the way by Rebekah who jumped at her brother with a shriek. There was much celebrating and happiness for about 10 whole minutes before the doorbell rang and everyone looked to the door as if it had grown horns.


	11. A Well Earned Nap

**Thanks go once again to CalligraphersNib for reviewing. The hugest biggest thanks I can give. I really didn't want to kill Tyler even though he is not my favorite character. I think that Caroline needs to really chose between him and Klaus for herself (I won't tell you who I think she should choose though!). Katherine and Damon aren't going to be friends anytime soon, but it is possible that she could manage to apologize!**

** I hope you guys like it and please REVIEW so I know what you think!**

**Lisolotte**

It was just the postman, but that moment of tense expectation reminded Charlotte that their fight was far from over. She just wasn't sure how to tell them that. "Hey guys, by the way, there is someone who could possibly be using ghosts to try and kill us." It didn't really roll off the tongue or inspire confidence. Not that these people intimidated Charlotte, right? She had no idea anymore. To be honest, she was just exhausted.

So, she let them think that the worst was over. It might not be the best decision, but Charlotte could hold her own until she figured out what exactly was going on. She was not used to being around other people let alone this many at once. It would be good for her.

Slowly, they all left with promises to keep in contact and visit soon. They were even more comments about how amazing she was. Charlotte knew the truth though. They had returned to a world that had existed before they met her. Everything was right in that world for them, thanks to her, but that did not mean that it would now include her. It was not the nicest of feelings, but Charlotte had expected it. A tiny part of her had hoped that someone would put up a fight about leaving her, but one by one they left Chicago. About a week after Rachel successfully separated Tyler and Klaus, she was greeted by absolute silence for the first time in a while.

She fell in a routine after a while. She would read a book each day. It would be anything, really. Sometimes a biography, sometimes the newest bestseller, other times a bodice ripper and more often than not it was a novel about finding yourself. It felt to Charlotte that the books she was choosing were trying to say something to her. That there was some sort of personal journey she needed to go on. Maybe it involved travelling the world or maybe getting a new hairstyle and outlook on like. All these novels had different ways of inspiring the hero (or more often heroine) to reevaluate everything they had previously held true.

The problem with this was that none of these people was 1,000 years old. At a certain age, it becomes nearly impossible to change these kinds of opinions. She realized that her subconscious was probably trying to tell her that she needed to deal with the whole Elijah-Tatia situation, but that seemed grim. She hated that Elijah had chosen her sister over her like that, but if he still had tender feelings for dearly departed Tatia, Charlotte probably wouldn't be able to cope. Could you imagine what it would be like to be reminded, over 1,000 years later, he still liked her sister better.

Over a month after her "friends" had left, she was still thinking about what to do next. Her ghost contacts had told her next to nothing about her mysterious assailant with ghost contacting abilities. She knew talking to Tatia might bring her closer to the truth, but that was something that she would only do in the direst of circumstances. There had been nothing to suggest that would be necessary. She had not been attacked again, nor had anyone else who had been in her apartment. Rachel was still in Chicago, taking over where Gloria had left off and the rest were in Mystic Falls arguing amongst themselves. Rebekah had said to Charlotte before she left that she wanted to get things right between her brothers and herself before she would dedicate herself solely to Charlotte and their wonderful friendship. Charlotte had understood. Rebekah had chosen her over her brothers in the past, but their family was in a big enough mess that they demanded more attention at the time.

Katherine had given Charlotte a warm hug and told her that she would be back eventually. She wanted to settle some scores so that she could finally set down some roots. She had a lot of enemies and she wanted to get rid of as many of them as she could before she went "straight" as she joked. Like Katherine Pierce could ever be mistaken for a mobster.

Damon had winked and walked off. Charlotte wasn't sure what to make of that. If her information was right, he had gone back to Mystic Falls with them, but he had been in and out of town. Charlotte couldn't bring herself to pry deeper into his whereabouts. The answer might not be to her liking.

So instead she read and wrote and enjoyed the city. Chicago had always had its own special and magical charm. She still did not feel at rights though. She began to have nightmares that included visits from her mother-in-law. That might not be too alarming, but they started to be every night. She would toss and turn and wake up more exhausted than when she had lain down. Soon, she was sleeping nearly 16 hours a night. The dreams with Esther became more intense. What Charlotte remembered more distinctly was the fact that Esther would apologize to her profusely every time. She would talk about how this was just necessary and she was sorry that it had to happen to Charlotte. She claimed to have always loved the girl like a daughter. Most nights Charlotte just ignored her.

One night, after about two months of being alone, she finally broke her silence with Esther. The woman had once again launched into her speech about being sorry, but this time Charlotte interrupted her.

"Sorry? You're sorry? You killed my only sister! And that is only the beginning of the slights you have committed against me. Don't apologize to me anymore. I cannot stand to hear it. I would rather have you tell me all about everything you and Mikael did in your marital bed than hear once more how sorry you are. You are not even close to sorry."

Esther looked very chagrined. "You're right, Charlotte. I have done you many wrongs. More than you even know about. That does not change the fact that there is something I must do to right the worst of my wrongs. It is unfortunate that I must use you in order to do that. I promise I have tried to do it other ways."

"I am not going to help you kill your children. Something about that strikes me as not cute. Find someone else."

"It truly is regretful, Charlotte. Unfortunately for you, it is not a matter of choice. I really wish it could happen to someone else. You are the only vampire who has not used to abilities I had endowed my children with to mar the face of this earth. This does not save you from my spite though. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me eventually."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "It is obvious that you aren't going to tell me what you're doing. So, why don't you just save it, sister? I would like to get some rest."

"Ask and you shall receive. You won't be waking up for quite a while now, Charlotte."

Charlotte stood up quickly. The dream, in which she had been sitting in a garden with Esther dining on tea party fare, slowly dissolved. She tried to wake herself up, but to no avail. She started to scream and cry. Anything. As a child, she suffered from serious nightmares. She had developed a few trusty tricks to help herself wake up. Not a single one of them was working right now. Esther, that witch, had done something to make sure that Charlotte couldn't wake up. Even worse, Charlotte had no idea why she had done it. Now she was alone in dreamland, with no one to tell. Who was going to save her? Who would even know? Would she slowly decay away to nothing when 400 years later the Mikaelsons settled their issues and Rebekah came looking for her. When Katherine had settled all her scores and was now ready to live a peaceful and fruitful life? Fat chance. Or when Esther used her to whatever nefarious end.

Damon was driving up Lake Shore Drive, on his way to Charlotte's house. He had the windows and roof down. The wind was blowing through his hair and to his right was nothing, but the beautiful blue water of Lake Michigan. He had tried to stay away from Charlotte. He knew that she preferred to live alone and having all those people around had probably been a shock to her system to have all of them living in her house. She had also had to fight repeatedly to defend her life. So, he had given her time. He tried everything he could to distract himself. There was something about Charlotte though. He felt like they had so much unfinished business. In the very least, he wanted to hear the rest of her story. He had not met a woman as interesting as her in all his life. Katherine Pierce had nothing on her.

Damon pulled up to her house and parked the car. He walked up and knocked. When Charlotte didn't answer, he rang the bell. Still, he heard nothing inside the house. He tried the knob. It was unlocked. Of course it was unlocked, what did Charlotte have to fear. Anything that would walk into her house had a hell of a vampire princess to deal with. Damon doubted they would even get past her living room. He smiled to himself. He was glad to be seeing her finally. He heard nothing moving inside the house, then a rustle in the upstairs. He found Charlotte asleep in her bed moaning and groaning.

He couldn't wake her up though. Nothing. Damon tried everything he could. Even entering her dreams to wake her up was impossible. Something was stopping him from getting in.

They were in trouble.


	12. Call Her Aurora, Or Briar Rose

**Sorry that this took so long! I am on vacation in Florida and have less time to write. I don't want to leave you guys hanging for too long though. I will try to get another one up later tonight if possible!**

**I would like to thank littleblondiex for following and favoriting, and rae-reader93 for following.**

**Aarolye—thank you for your review! I cannot wait to tell you more about them. So glad you like it.**

**CalligraphersNib—it's no problem. I haven't updated yet, so I can't blame you. I didn't want to focus too hard on the body switch issue. I wanted it to keep moving like it does on the show. I hope it isn't too jarring. I hope you are ready for the next part.**

**Please REVIEW. It helps me buckets.**

**Lisolotte**

Damon stared at the sleeping Charlotte and had absolutely no idea what to do. There were 200 Sleeping Beauty puns that came to his mind, but they wouldn't wake her up and she certainly couldn't appreciate them. Should he call the Originals in? He didn't even know where to find them right now. He supposed that Rebekah would be his best bet. Should he just call Rachel?

He tried once more to enter her dream. Damon felt cold as he did. If he had to describe the feeling, he would liken it to being in a heavy fog. His reflexes seemed slower and even his thoughts. Then he saw Charlotte. She was sitting in a garden. All around her bloomed beautiful flowers of all different colors. She was dressed in a simply white dress that fanned around her. The dream-like setting was beautiful, but the general fogginess gave it a sinister tone. The somber look on Charlotte's face reinforced this. She seemed to know that things were off, but she had also given up fighting it. She looked like a lost little girl. Forget dreamland, this was the place of nightmares.

Damon had gotten in! He was too caught up trying to figure out what was going on to realize that he had successfully entered the dream. He called out to Charlotte, "Charlie! Look this way, Vampire Princess. I'm your prince here to rescue you."

Charlotte turned towards Damon and a sad smile bloomed on her face. She nodded at him and winked.

Damon felt the dream world become electrified. Suddenly, the sinister world seemed aware of him and it was not happy about his being there. He felt himself being pulled out. Charlotte just calmly looked and him and mouthed the words "I will do my best." He had no idea what that meant, but he trusted her. He found himself back in her room against the far wall.

Charlotte stirred for a moment, but then resumed her heavy slumber. She certainly wasn't going to be much help. He might have been able to get into the dream, but he could not bring her out. He was not going to try and go back in again until he knew that he could live up to the title he had given himself in Charlotte's dream.

Damon wasn't expecting to come here and find her in need of a white knight. Damon certainly didn't fulfill that role. He was here because he saw her as a friend and he wanted to finish their conversation. He had gotten the distinct impression that Charlotte had desperately needed to talk to someone openly and honestly about her history. The whole story had been so complicated and convoluted that he doubted she had ever discussed the whole thing. He was going to be her prince now. Maybe a dark prince though. He was no Disney fairy tale hero, but that didn't mean he couldn't deliver for his Charlie.

He realized he had started to think of her as "his," but didn't dwell on it. First and foremost he had to get her back before he could confront his feelings for the girl. That brought out a whole lot of mess and drama, including her maybe husband Elijah. Damon couldn't imagine fighting Elijah for a girl. What kind of girl would even be interested in the two of them? He and Elijah were two radically different men. Elijah was her past though. Maybe she was ready for something very different. Damon shook himself. He was getting too ahead of himself. He had no idea if Charlotte would be interested in him. He didn't want to go down the same route as he had with Elena. He needed a girl who was emotionally available. First, he needed her to wake up and then he could ponder riding into the sunset with this gorgeous girl.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty, give me a sign. I don't know what to do." Charlotte stayed silent, but behind Damon, he heard someone.

He turned to see the exact image of Elena and Katherine, but he could see through her.

"Tatia?"

She nodded. "She can't wake up. Esther is holding her there. She is still able to hear you though. Not always or anything, but the words come through the fog every once and a while. She definitely heard you when you came in for her. She says don't try that again. Next time, you might come out in worse shape. You caught Esther by surprise this time. She _doesn't_ know that it is me talking to you for her."

Damon quirked a brow at her. "You just happened to be the one available to help?" Damon knew how Charlotte felt about Tatia. He had seen that whole thing going down in front of him. The anger and sadness she felt had been so bad that he had practically felt it himself.

Tatia blushed. "No," she said quietly. "I go wherever she goes. I meant that when I told her that at the gas station. I have spent 1,000 years watching my sister and seeing what I have done to her, finally seeing all the amazing qualities in her that I missed out on because I was so selfish and stubborn. I know her better than anyone in the world now, but it is worthless. There is nothing I can do to fix what I have done."

"Don't be so dramatic. You stole her husband. You got murdered as a result. Don't act like you ruined her whole life. She is doing just fine without you."

"You don't get it, Damon; I did ruin her whole life. I didn't just steal her husband. I made it impossible for her to ever right that relationship. I can't even begin to make up for that. It's why I am unable to move on. I have un-finish-able unfinished business. This is my punishment which is made all the worse by the fact that my sister is now immortal. I don't want her to die though. She can't, Damon," Tatia began to cry in earnest. "This isn't fair. Esther has done enough. She is lying now to all of you about her motivations. She is going to get my sister killed in her determination.

"Assemble the Originals, get your witch and anyone else you can. It is going to take a lot of strength to save her. If she goes, Esther is in prime position to put an end to the vampire race."

Damon shook his head. "Another day, another threat to kill us all."

"I think this is where my sister would remind you that she bought you 6 months of peace." Damon smiled and looked towards Charlotte while his smile faded.


	13. Romantic Rivals Make Their Suits Known

**Here's the second chapter for the day. I hope it helps you guys to forgive me for being so late in updating. I made it extra-long and extra juicy to show you how much I love you for continuing to read.**

** Guys! This story has gotten 2,500 views. YOU ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU.**

** PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Lisolotte**

Damon waited to decide who to call. He really had no desire to talk to Klaus. Daddy Hybrid might draw comparisons between the two of them, but that did not mean he had anything to talk to the man about. He wasn't even sure that he had a number to reach him at. He certainly didn't want to call Kol. That bat to the face still smarted. The youngest Mikaelson was definitely too much of a wild card. Elijah would gather them all. He seemed to still care about his ex-wife. Rebekah was definitely still her best friend. Would they believe him? Would he have to do something to prove it? This was a pretty ridiculous situation. What was Damon thinking? They were all vampires. They had just all rallied six months ago to perform a body switch. This was no less ludicrous than that. They had a valuable team member out of commission this time. Charlotte would probably know exactly what to do, but it is not like she could help much right now. Of course, Tatia would tell him that he needed to get ahold of all the Originals. It couldn't be something easier for him. Instead, he has to reunite the Manson family.

The Originals were complicated as hell. You had no idea if they were going to be the best of friends ready to die for each other or if they were going to be gunning to kill each other. Elijah was most likely to be level headed, but Rebekah was the most likely to answer his call. Kol and Klaus were able to go either way. He was just going to see who was going to answer first. Start there.

Rebekah went straight to voicemail. "Leave a message, I might get back to you. Chances are I don't want to talk to you, so don't hold your breath." Of course her voicemail would be just as abrasive as she is. Damon cursed to himself. So he tried Elijah. The Original Gentleman answered promptly, of course.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Damon?" Elijah asked crisply.

"I wouldn't call it a pleasure," Damon said with an intake of breath. He took a pause before he said to Elijah, "Charlotte is comatose. Well, she is not exactly comatose, but something close. She won't wake up. I don't know how long she has been like this. I showed up today and found her like—"

Elijah interrupted him with a loud, "WHAT?!"

Damon had never heard Elijah show such emotion before and now he was doing it with only one word. Note to self: feelings still there for sure. "She is asleep. Or she seems to be. I couldn't go into her dreams at first. Something was keeping me out. I was able to get in for a second. She is there, but stuck. Tatia showed up—"

"Tatia?" Elijah asked. "Tatia is dead. Believe me, I have seen the proof. Are you spinning me a tale, Salvatore?"

Damon sighed loudly. "I wish I was lying. She won't wake up. She was able to send Tatia to me. She didn't know she was the spirit that would answer. That is how I know she isn't just tired. She is sending me a message. Tatia came to me with a list of things that we need to do in order to try and get her back."

"What were you doing visiting my wife anyway?" Elijah asked with soft menace in his voice.

"Wife, Elijah? Don't pull that card with me. I have heard some of that from Charlotte herself. I doubt she would let you call her that if she was able to talk right now, which she is not. It doesn't matter what happened or why I am here. All that matters is that Charlotte needs us. Tatia told me that I need to get all the Originals here along with Rachel and anyone strong that I can get. I don't think we need St. Stefan and company unless you think they will be helpful."

"Consider it handled," Elijah said with finality. "I will make sure everyone necessary is there promptly. You concern yourself with making sure that she is okay right now. Watch her day and night if you have to. If her condition changes at all, let me know. Tatia visits again, let me know. I am trusting you with something precious to me, Salvatore, remember that. You better do everything you can to make sure that she is safe."

Note to self again: lots of feelings left there. "Loud and clear. Maybe I will give her a bath so she is clean and fragrant when everyone gets here. I don't know if Sleeping Beauty is going to stay clean and fresh while she is asleep. Who knows how long she has been like this anyway. She might have been out for the whole six months we have been gone."

"Tread lightly," Elijah said and hung up.

"You love her, don't you," Tatia said quietly.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I barely know the girl. I admire her greatly. I care for her. Love is a bit of a way off. Any chance I could get you to leave? I don't want to have to call Elijah again," he retorted.

"I'm not going to leave her. Ever. It is one of those unbreakable vow type things. I don't have any new information for you though. No need to call Elijah. Wouldn't want you antagonizing him anymore."

"What do you want, Tatia? Are you just trying to sit her and make me feel worse? I am already confused about the way your sister affects me. I don't need your help."

Tatia moved closer to him. "That is not what I am trying to do. I am trying to give you company. Can't be easy to just sit here and wait."

"I don't need your sympathy."

"Maybe you need my experience."

Damon scoffed. "Maybe your route where it comes to Charlotte is not one I want to replicate anyway."

"I know more about Elijah though. I can definitely help you when it comes to that. Elijah is always going to be there."

"Is that what you are trying to tell me, run? Stay away from my sister, it is going to be the same problem you have with Elena and with Katherine. Someone else was there first. It won't be your brother this time though. Instead, it will be the Original Gentleman, all suave and perfect. He was there first, too. Is that what you are trying to say to me?" Damon asked bitterly.

Tatia shook her head. "No. That is not what I am saying. She wouldn't choose him over you. At least not today. I can't see her doing it at all actually. Stranger things have happened though. Elijah will always love my sister though. That is all I am trying to warn you about. They are forever locked in this push and pull because of what I did though."

Damon sat down on the armchair and put his arms behind his head. "Tell me what you did, Tatia. Stop dancing around it. I am tired of having half the story. Why don't you tell me? It's just me and you here."

Tatia looked apprehensive. She waited a full five minutes before she finally answered him. "Elijah would never have chosen me over Charlotte. They were sickly in love with each other. I was jealous as can be. Elijah was perfect. I had a huge crush on him. So, made him fall in love with me."

"Made him? How exactly did you manage that? I am really getting tired of this prevarication, dear. That means the way you are dancing around the issue."

Tatia glowered at him. "He is bespelled. That is why he abandoned her for me. The witch who aided me made a strong enchantment. I had told her that the father of my child would not make an honorable woman out of me. It struck a chord with her. Even now, if Elijah saw me he would be in love. Charlotte found that out for herself not long after my death. She thinks we had some deep love affair that lasted beyond death. That is why he has been attracted to both Katherine and Elena."

"You never told her?!" Damon shouted.

Tatia blushed a shade of bright red. "How could I tell her? I don't know how to fix it?"

"You wouldn't even try? That is your sister?! She deserves better than that from you. No wonder she can't stand the sight of you."

"Elijah knows. He has been trying for 900 years to break the 'curse' as he calls it. It's too strong, Damon. I really have cursed them. I am the worst scum on the planet Earth. I have ruined so many lives with one purely selfish act." Tears flowed freely down Tatia face.

Damon couldn't be sorry for her. She didn't deserve it. Tatia had willfully brought this all on herself. She didn't even deserve the consideration.

The realization hit Damon like a brick though. He wasn't helping a girl get over her Original husband who had left her for her sister. It was nothing so simple or noble. He was fighting another man for her affections. It was the story of his sad life. He was no longer competing with his brother though. Worse, he was competing with a man who had spent 900 years trying to right someone else's wrong that had caused him and the woman that he loved unspeakable pain. That was the kind of story that made for epic fairy tales. Elijah was a white knight riding on his trusty stead to wake Sleeping Beauty with true love's kiss. How could Damon begrudge him that? Was Damon going to get between two people who belonged together? How had he ended up in another romantic mess? Was he even past all the drama with Elena? Not to mention, with Charlotte came Katherine who Damon was not too willing to see on a regular basis and relive that relationship. Damon wouldn't do that to Charlotte. He would not come between her and Elijah if they were truly in love. She was genuinely mad at Elijah though. And he hadn't told her the truth. She certainly wouldn't be able to forgive that easily. Which put Damon in a sticky position. Now he knew, too. Damon had promised to be honest with her. He knew he would tell her. He didn't owe anything to Elijah to keep the secret. It just meant at what time he would tell her. Right now did not seem ideal. He needed his girl fighting fit. Damon started thinking about how perfect Charlotte was for him. She was not some innocent angel who was beyond his reach. Charlotte was a good girl, a princess even. Damon had seen her kill though. She was a fierce passionate woman who could give him a run for his money. She was warm and kind and dedicated. She had laughed easily and kept up with his wit, even put him to shame a few times on their trip to Virginia. They could make a wonderful life for themselves. Damon could see them traveling the world and living free. In his mind was a series of images each more beautiful than the last. Charlotte in Brazil, Charlotte in Paris, Charlotte in Rome, the soft sounds of her speaking to him in Italian, Charlotte with rumpled hair and only a bed sheet on.

The doorbell rang waking Damon from his daydreams of finding happiness with Charlotte. The first of their rescue team had arrived.


	14. Waiting and Readying

**Aarolye—thanks for reviewing. I am definitely a huge fan of Elijah and want things to work out for them. I am not sure where things are going in that respect though. It would take a lot for them to get there. I am sure Elijah appreciates the support though!**

**CalligraphersNib—your reviews are always such a joy to read! Thank you so much for your feedback. I like to keep the story moving and I love to put the twists in to keep everyone on their toes. I feel bad for Damon, too. I feel awful for what I am doing to him!**

**Here's the next installment. PLEASE REVIEW. It really helps me to know what you guys think about the story and what is going on. Hopefully, if I remain motivated enough, the chapter should still be pretty frequent, but they will be longer.**

**Lisolotte**

** P.S. I know that Elijah probably wouldn't say "shenanigans" but it was so funny to think of him saying it. Don't you think?**

The first to arrive had been Kol. He stated that he had stayed within "shouting distance" of Charlotte just in case she had needed him. It had only taken him 2 hours after hanging up with Elijah to show up at Charlotte's.

Seeing her seemingly asleep shook the wry smirk off his face for the first time in anyone's memory. Well, not anyone's memory, but definitely since he had been un-daggered.

"Thank God you came to drop in on her," Kol said tucking a strand of hair behind Charlotte's ear. "Who knows what would have happened to Sweets if you hadn't showed up. She looks like she just laid down for a nap. Who knows how long she has been like this.

"She is the best person I have ever met. When she married my brother, I was worried that she was going to be awful. Elijah had been courting another girl before Charlotte and Tatia came to town. The first girl had been a terror. She didn't want anything to do with any of us. Charlotte was the exact opposite of that. Can you imagine that she would play with me and Rebekah like we were her own children? She wasn't that much older than us, but she was years ahead in maturity."

Damon appreciated hearing from Kol about how Charlotte had been when she was young and human, but that didn't mean he knew what to say in response. He hadn't known her back then, but he could certainly imagine the wonderful young woman she had been. Even worse, this had taken quite the macabre turn. It was starting to feel like a funeral instead of a rescue mission.

After Kol arrived, Rebekah showed up. She hadn't been as close as Kol had, but she still arrived as quickly as she could.

"Who did that to her?" Rebekah asked in a small and child-like voice. Gone was the abrasive girl who might be rough around the edges, but just needed some love. Instead, in her place was a little girl who was just so scared at the potential to lose someone so close to her. Considering the strange circumstance of Rebekah's life and after-live, this seemed to be the first real loss of her adult/after life. She had been so young when Henrik died and the loss of each of her parents was fraught with complicating emotions. She loved Charlotte wholly and purely.

She pulled Damon into a hug. He was surprised that she was so gentle with him and he allowed her to continue to hug him while she cried.

Klaus arrived while Rebekah was still crying. He shrugged and sat down on a chair facing Charlotte's bed. He didn't say a word, but just sat there watching her. It almost seemed like he was willing her to wake up.

Rachel showed up a little after 6 pm. She had waited to come until she had gathered as much of her grandmother's ingredients that she could and the grimoires that was most likely to have the information she needed.

Elijah swept in not too long after that and kneeled next to Charlotte on the bed before he even addressed any of the other occupants of the room. He ran his fingers through his hands; effectively undoing the work Kol had done before him to right her hair.

"You're sure that she hasn't changed since you got here?" he asked Damon without looking at him.

"Positive. I haven't tried to go back into her dream since that first time. Tatia told me very clearly that going back in would be risky and to not do it again until I was sure I was ready," he responded promptly.

"Where do we start?" Rebekah asked.

"Linking spell," Rachel responded simply.

"Been there done that, sweetheart. In fact, if my mother is again trying to murder us, wouldn't that be quite the risky move?" Klaus responded.

"She needs your pooled strength. This is different. It is actually combining your energies to make it that you guys are stronger together. It is risky, for sure, but there is no way you will be strong enough," Rachel told him in a matter of fact voice.

"Then let's get started," Rebekah said with a pout.

"Did I say that I am ready to give my life for Sweets?" Kol asked the group. All he received in response was a glare from everyone in the room. "I was joking. We know that I love her dearly. Not quite as dearly as I love myself though." The entire group rolled their eyes at him. That was the beauty of siblings, they understand your jokes. And they won't pretend they are funny if they're not.

"Do it, Rachel. We are all willing to do this for Charlotte," Klaus said gravely.

Rachel started shaking her head. Tears rolled heavily down her face. "I can't," she said brokenly. "I want to guys. I owe it to Charlotte. She helped me reconcile with my grandmother after all this time. She gave me this huge gift. Ever since I decided to come back to Chicago and take over my grandmother's business, Charlotte has been helping me.

"I want with every fiber of my being to help her. She deserves better than this. I **can't **do it. I am not capable. I have only been practicing so much since I settled things with my grandmother. I am beyond rusty and still a novice."

A heavy silence fell over the group. They really didn't know what to do if Rachel had been unable to perform the spell. No one knew what to do next. They hadn't even known what to do to begin with. It had been Charlotte to show them the way. Well, Charlotte had told them by way of Tatia.

"You're sure she said get Rachel? There wasn't more to the list of things you needed?" Rebekah asked Damon.

"No. That isn't what she said. She said get your witch. I assumed that she meant Rachel. She is the only witch that we have been dealing with. All the same, I told Elijah exactly what she told me."

Everyone looked to Elijah. He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He did tell me that exactly. I expected some sort of shenanigans like this so I prepared for some contingencies. I just hope everything works out."

Damon saw Tatia lurking on the side of Charlotte that Elijah was not kneeling on. She held a finger up her mouth signaling to Damon that he should not say anything. As everyone continued to move around the room and not acknowledge Tatia's presence, Damon realized that he was the only one who could see her. What a gift that had been given to him.

"You told Elijah exactly what I told you that you needed, right?" Tatia asked pointedly. Damon inclined him head slightly to tell her yes. "Good because I didn't mean Rachel when I said that. She is a capable witch, but I am not sure that she is up to this challenge."

Damon had nothing to say to Tatia so instead he asked Elijah, "what kind of contingencies?"

"Any and all, Damon. This is very important to me so I wouldn't leave it to chance that everything would come together."

"Vague much?" Damon asked saucily.

"He's trying to stop you guys from getting prepared for something that might not happen," a voice said from the doorway.

"And what would we be getting prepared for?" Kol asked not looking at who was speaking.

"Me," Bonnie Bennett said from the doorway.


	15. Blood Ties

**Here's the next installment, I hope you guys like it as much as I do. It may not seem like much, but everything that is coming up in the story is building towards a HUGE conflict. You might have a guess as to what it might be, but I can guarantee you still won't see it coming.**

** Nightwing's Gal, thank you for following the story!**

** CalligraphersNib, I am so glad you like the direction this is going towards. I am not the biggest fan of Bonnie, but I think that is because she is underused on the show! I love Katerina Graham and think Bonnie has so much potential. Just like I have decided to adopt Kol, Damon and Katherine, I have decided to adopt Bonnie. I am not going to try and change any of them, but I want to add to them. I want them to be the characters they should be, if the show had more time to focus on them. I am glad everything still makes sense, if it doesn't, call me out on it. That is exactly the kind of thing that can disrupt my enjoyment of reading other fics so I wouldn't want to commit the same crime.**

** PLEASE REVIEW. I love you!**

**Lisolotte**

"I am going to need a little blood from each of you. When I tell you, each of you will cut yourself and draw a piece of a star. There are four Mikaelsons and one Charlotte. Together, it should make a star. You are going to draw it inside this circle I have made on the floor. I didn't draw the star, but I figure you can handle that part. Simple enough, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Oh," Kol said. He looked at Bonnie appraisingly, although it was unclear where he was teasing or serious. That was often the case with Kol Mikaelson. "Bossy, I like it. Do it some more."

Bonnie glared at him and turned to Elijah. He was the only person she had directly addressed since she had arrived. Otherwise, she just spoke to the group collectively. Bonnie had obviously not finished on whatever journey it was that she was on. All that anger that she had left Mystic Falls with rolled off her in waves still. In spite of that, she was taking this seriously even though she had not met Charlotte. "Are we expecting someone else?"

"Just me," Katherine said from the doorway. She waltzed over to the group. She rearranged Charlotte's hair as so many people before her had done. It was surprising that her hair still looked so soft and clean after so many hands being run through it.

Immediately, Damon watched Elijah's reaction to the doppelganger knowing what he did from Tatia. He didn't notice anything immediately, but he had to admit that it didn't mean much. The Original could have so much going on under the surface that Damon wouldn't notice.

"Oh, yay, it is a gathering of all my favorite people. Are we going to invite my brother and his ilk next?"

A cough came from the doorway. It was not, in fact, Stefan or any of his "ilk." It was Lucy Bennett, cousin to one Bonnie Bennett. They had not seen her since she had helped Katherine at the masquerade. That felt like eons ago. So many things had happened since they had last seen her.

For the first time, Bonnie's hard façade cracked. For a brief moment, she looked like the young girl she truly was instead of the harden woman she had had to become. She started as if she was going to embrace Lucy, but checked herself.

Lucy stood just inside the door staring at the group before her. It was really intimidating. She had heard of Rachel and her legendary fight with Gloria. The Originals had a reputation that preceded them, especially the three that she did not know. She had not left on good terms with either Damon or Katherine. Bonnie and Elijah were the reasons that she was here. Elijah had called her in to help with Charlotte, the lush promise of a reward and a definite favor owed to her.

He had followed that up with a summary of what had been going on with her cousin Bonnie. Lucy had felt immense guilt about leaving Bonnie like she had. She knew that she needed to get away from the vampires especially with all the drama that they entailed and the risk they brought. She had abandoned her young cousin to those wolves because she had been scared. Bonnie had obviously looked to Lucy with the hope that she could guide her. Lucy had only found out later that Bonnie's grandmother had died leaving her directionless. Lucy felt like she was responsible in some way.

So, here she was, surrounded by vampires and elbow deep in their business again.

"Are you here to help?" Bonnie asked.

A shy smile crossed Lucy's face. "Yes, Elijah called me. He said he figured that he should get as many witches as he can. It didn't hurt that I have much more experience with dark magics than you or Rachel. Doesn't make me the most trustworthy, but it does make me valuable."

"Let's get started, then," Bonnie said with her badass attitude back in place.

The three witches gathered around the grimoires that Rachel had brought with her. "This is what I think we need to do to start," Bonnie told Lucy. "Rachel looked through as many as there as she could and found this," she said flipping to a different spell. "From everything she could tell, this spell is our best bet. We don't know what is doing this exactly. Tatia says that it is Esther, but that really doesn't make sense because she is very dead and we recently sent her back to the other side. Even knowing that it is Esther, we don't know how she is doing this or where she is. The only connection we have is her inhabitance of Charlotte's mind," Bonnie paused here and looked around the room. She might be addressing Lucy, but everyone was listening.

"It's a real setback that the Ghost Whisperer is out of commission, eh?" Damon asked earning him no less than 5 death glares.

"Anyway," Bonnie said with a determined look on her face. "This means that we have to do the incredibly risky thing of rooting her out of Charlotte's mind by force. Someone has to go in and get rid of her. Alone, that would be impossible. If not impossible, it would be highly ill advised. So before we go in, we need to perform a linking spell. It is not the same on that Esther performed to try and kill her children. This spell links life forces. This is just as risky because of this. It makes one person stronger than they might be, but also if one person draws too much from another person, they can die."

Bonnie turned to Damon at this point. "You can't do this with them, Damon. I know you are the one who found her and you are the one who brought us all here, but it is far, far too dangerous for you to be part of this. All the other vampires are old enough that it will probably be fine. I might not like you, but I am not going to let you run headfirst to your death."

A look of pure rage passed over Damon's face and then he sat down. What no one else heard was Tatia telling him that even though he might not like it, what they were telling him was right. Tatia went on to tell him that it wasn't like he was abandoning Charlotte, his actions had put everything in motion and it was going to fall on him to guard over not only Charlotte's body, but the body of whomever went into her dream to get her back. It might not be the most glamorous job ever, but it was important. Damon took was Tatia was saying and complied. In his mind, the idea that he was not going to be her white knight, but Elijah was instead was dominating everything. Not a single other thought could get past that for him. In the end, he simply nodded at Bonnie at sat down demonstrating that he wasn't going to fight them on it.

"I **am** helping," Katherine said with a determined look on her face.

Bonnie looked at her while biting her lip. "It's your choice, Katherine. You are much older than Damon so you will have such a better chance of surviving."

"I don't care about my chances of survival. This is Charlotte. I will either help bring her back or die trying. There is no other option for me," Katherine said with a completely serious face. Everyone in the room was shocked by the sincerity with which she spoke. Charlotte and Katherine had stated that they were very close friends, but no one in the room had ever seen Katherine do something without an ulterior motive. The idea of Katherine and a selfless act going together was purely alien to everyone.

Bonnie did not like Katherine, but another strong vampire helping did not seem like the worst thing ever. It seemed much easier than fighting her on it. "That's fine, Katherine. It means that you have to do exactly what I tell you." The vampire nodded in assent. "You will do one of the sides of the stars. Charlotte will just be the circle around the star, touching all five points of the star. It's no problem." She scanned the page. "Give us 2 hours to get ready and then we will be off running. Sound good to everyone?" Everyone nodded and looked to Charlotte.


	16. Tension Builds

**Here's the new update. I hope you guys didn't feel too bad about waiting this long. I have been thinking about certain plotlines that I am considering and wanted to make sure that it was going to work out. I hope you guys don't hate me for that! I had it extra-long to say that I am sorry!**

**Thank you cenation123 for both following and favoriting! Also, thank you to gossamerclouds for favoriting! I love that kind of feedback. It lets me know that you guys are enjoying it!**

** CalligraphersNib- Now I feel like I cannot update until I get one of your reviews. It really matters to me getting your feedback. Thank you so much! I really feel like someone other than Bonnie needed to think about all the things that have happened to her which is why I had Lucy come in the way I did. For all Bonnie's problems, that poor girl is practically all on her own.**

** Fictionangel22- Thank you for reviewing! I had no idea I had kept you waiting. Honestly, even a short little review telling me that makes me want to take the extra hour to finish a chapter! I am glad you like it so much. I promise I have a whole lot of awesome in store for you. I hope you're ready!**

**Lisolotte**

Waiting the whole two hours that Rachel, Bonnie and Lucy needed to prepare was unbearable. Kol broke Klaus's jaw. Klaus had dislocated Kol's shoulder twice and Elijah had come as close as he could to kill both of them without actually doing it. Eventually, Rebekah had to restrain him. Katherine and Rebekah had actually sat there quietly holding hands. They still didn't like each other, but they just needed some comfort right then and not one of the boys seemed willing to offer it. Damon was watching Elijah and Katherine's interactions closely. He still hadn't seen anything suspicious. Maybe Tatia had exaggerated the effect her "curse" had on Elijah. He was sitting as far away from the whole group as he could. He had no desire to get into a fight with any of them. The information that he had gotten from Charlotte and Tatia about the craziness that was the Original Family made him want to watch everything as closely as he could. Nothing overly exciting had happened yet. It didn't mean that he was going to stop watching.

"You're being awfully quiet, Salvatore. Busy trying to steal my brother's wife?" Kol taunted.

Damon gave Kol a steely glare and said nothing. He was going to stay as far away from the drama as he could. They could fight amongst themselves if they wanted to, but Damon was not going to get involved for a second. Kol could make all the comments that he wanted, but Damon was not going to give him a reaction. When shit hit the fan, Damon did not want a single thing for Charlotte to call him out for.

Kol stepped closer to Damon once he realized he was not going to get a response out of him.

"Enough, Kol," Elijah said stepping between the two.

"No, 'Lijah, I don't like it. I am supposed to just watch Damon salivate over Charlie? Are all of us just supposed to sit here and pretend like he isn't chasing after her? Great, it is thanks to him that he are able to help her, but how do we know he didn't do it? What if this was his way of getting her all to himself and it backfired?" Kol ranted to no one in particular. Everyone avoided making eye contact with him. This was certainly not the place or time to discuss this. "Charlotte is too good for your worthless ass." He yelled at Damon.

Damon slowly stood up, but made no move to attack. The group slowly watched him. Damon was a fool, but no one thought he was a big enough fool to take on this whole group by himself. "I'm not lying, Elijah Jr., and I am not trying to get Charlotte all to myself. If that is what I wanted, I certainly wouldn't bring the Munsters in. In fact, I would keep both of us as far away from all of you as possible."

"And we are supposed to believe you just because you say so?" Kol asked combatively.

"No, you're supposed to believe me because I'm telling the truth," Damon responded levelly.

"Enough!" Rebekah yelled standing up glaring at everyone. "I don't care about your macho garbage! That is Charlotte in there. She is more important than any of that garbage! Shut up for a second. We are waiting for the witches to ready the spell for us to give everything to save her." Tears began to run down Rebekah's face in earnest. Katherine stood up and wrapped her arms around Rebekah. The blonde was not the biggest fan of Katherine, but she was scared. It felt good for someone to care. Katherine needed someone, too, whether she would admit it or not. That is what the whole group needed: to work together. Fighting with each other would not help them when it came down to the moment that they went in to get Charlotte. Katherine was probably the only one with the foresight to see that. Being so calculating could still be useful even if she was on the "straight and narrow" it seemed.

"I think the waiting is putting a strain on all of us," Katherine said quietly while still hugging Rebekah. She gently rubbed circles on the blonde's back trying valiantly to calm the girl down.

"Do you think, Katerina?" Elijah blasted. "What if we are too late?!"

"Getting upset isn't going to help," Katherine said in the same sad and quite voice. "We need to wait and be ready to help the witches whenever they say it's time. Until then, let's not kill each other. We don't want to waste an ounce of our energy. I want us to be as strong as we can be when we go in for my girl," Katherine said fiercely.

For the second time in less than 24 hours, the intensity of emotion that Katherine showed on behalf of Charlotte silenced and confused the room. No one really knew what to say to her or how much to believe her. Instead, they all decided to follow her lead and shut up.

**Meanwhile**

Charlotte sat in some demented Alice in Wonderland setting. Thank goodness that she had not been dressed in Alice's garments. She was still in her pajamas, mercifully. At least she was comfortable. She had walked around and around, but kept ending up at some demented and warped version of the Mad Hatter's tea party. There was a thick forest around the clearing that the table sat in. There was nothing outside the forest, though. Not even an animal to be seen. At least it could have been fun to hunt an animal or pet it if it was friendly. Finally, she had felt hopeless enough to sit down. Nothing had happened though. She was expecting some sort of…well anything. No Hatter or March Hare had showed up. Not even a little mouse dozing in one of the tea cups.

Instead, she sat and stared at her tea. Charlotte felt like she had enough tea in her lifetime to last her forever. It was not that she disliked the stuff. It had just been so popular and present at social gatherings for so long that the stuff made her want to nap. For a while, she went through a list of guests she could have "over" for tea. She went through the list mentally. At first she imagined having her parents or Rebekah or Katherine or Damon, but that thought pattern made her terribly upset. Then she went to famous people she **hadn't** met. Karl Marx was obviously a terrible choice. Even Joseph Stalin would be preferable to this silence that Charlotte was currently experiencing.

Charlotte eventually laid her head down on the table when that became too boring for her. She tucked her arms under her head and tried to sleep. After Charlotte had discovered that she could not sleep inside this dream, Esther showed up. She took the seat across from Charlotte. She looked at the array of cups in front of her and eventually settled on the one that she thought was the cleanest.

"I trust you aren't too uncomfortable?" Esther asked Charlotte after taking her first sip of tea.

Charlotte sat straight up and looked her mother-in-law in the eye. "I am bored out of my mind. Actually, I'm not because I am stuck here. I am so uncomfortable I could scream."

"Sorry to neglect you for so long. I had some matters to attend to. I am all yours until the ceremony begins."

"What a wonderful boon for me. Who do I write the thank you note out to? Do you guys have postal addresses in the spirit world? Wait, we both know I know the answer to that. I am sure you know all about what I am capable of."

"No need to be so snappish, Charlotte. You were never this talkative or rude when I knew you. It is very off putting. You certainly are unique when it comes to powers, but yes I do know what you are capable of. I targeted you for a reason. And I wanted to spend some time with you. I knew once you got to the spirit world, you wouldn't want to see me. Even if you did, you would probably ascend to a higher level than me." The look that Esther gave Charlotte was one that a mother might give a child, disapproving, but filled with love.

"Give it a rest, Esther. Reminding me how afraid I was of you won't help. I have come a long way from that girl. I had to. And don't talk to me about the Other Side. I know all about it. Lest you forget, I was having play dates with ghosts before I could speak. I first visited the Other Side when I was 10. Please go bother someone else. I liked it much better when I was imagining that I was having tea with the Queen. At least she didn't bug me about things I didn't care about. We talked all about Harry's photo scandal. She thought it was ridiculous that I would still consider marrying him."

Esther looked at Charlotte disapprovingly. "Is this how you really want to spend your last hours on Earth? You really can prattle on, but isn't there anything you have left to say?"

"I would prefer to spend my last hours on Earth AWAKE. And there is certainly nothing I have to say to you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I really wish I could give you what you want, Charlotte. I have always loved you like a daughter. You are just too powerful to be left unchecked. Instead, I will sit with you until you are no longer able to stop me."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

Esther laughed a hollow brittle laugh. "I have already said too much, my dear. I am not going to spill my guts to you in the off chance that you are able to share them with the people desperately trying to 'save' you. Let's talk about your father instead."

"I would rather chew my own lips off of my face," Charlotte bit out.

"What is it he called you again?"

Tears welled up in Charlotte's eyes. She shook her head viciously. "I won't do this, Esther. I am not going to share all my precious recollections with you. My father was a good man."

"His little hummingbird, right? Because you were so small but you could get so excited because you would move as fast as a hummingbird's wings."

Charlotte clenched her teeth. "My father was an amazing parent. He loved me so much and would never dream of doing things like you have done to your children. Consider what you did to Klaus. You are the one who had an affair. YOU," she shouted that word. "But you cursed your own son for your mistake and shunned him. How dare you. HOW DARE YOU." Charlotte shouted and the air around her practically vibrated.

Esther looked scared for the first time. Charlotte leaned in towards Esther. "You better hope that this is the end of me. Because if it's not," she leaned in and moved a hair behind Esther's ear. "If it's not, I promise you that I will hunt you down, in this world and the next. I will hunt you down until I am absolutely sure that you have not only paid for what you have done to me and my family, I will also make sure that you cannot do another thing to another person in the world. Are we clear?" She asked Esther with a disarming smile on her face.

Charlotte looked down to her right palm which had a cut blossoming across it. As the blood began to flow out of her hand, her smile turned sinister. "I hope you know what you are doing, Mommie Dearest, because I have a feeling that the show is starting and I am betting on my team."


	17. They Should Have Finished Talking

**First, I am sorry for taking so long. If you can believe it, the power button on my computer just stopped working. First, I had to figure out what was wrong. Then, I had to get that fixed which took a bit. Don't worry, I spent the whole time outlining the next couple of chapters and I promise they will be awesome and they will happen on time. This chapter is a little rough (I had some serious trouble with it), but the next couple will be a lot less bumpy. **

**Thank you to Isabelbanham, xXAnimeXXRevolutionXx, and xxdarkvampireangelx for following.**

** Thank you to flazzy Cullen for favoriting.**

** Thank you to Laura-LaLa for following and favoriting.**

** Flazzy Cullen: thank for the review. I am glad you like it so much. Sorry for making you wait so long for the update. I really like Damon and Charlotte, but I make no promises as to how they will end up. Even I don't know!**

** CalligraphersNib: so glad to see your review. Thank you for the comments about the Harry bit. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I just felt like that is what Charlotte would say. Being stuck in a dream would be the kind of thing that could get boring fast and making you start imagining silly things.**

** Laura-LaLa: I am so glad you like it. I think Katherine deserves to be nice every once and a while. She isn't the worst person ever; she just needs to stop having to worry about herself all the time. And thank you for recognizing Charlotte's badassery. I love that kind of character and I thought she would fit in well in the Vampire Diaries universe. She kicks ass and then worries about the fall out.**

** Xxdarkvampireangelxx: here is your update finally. Sorry for the long wait!**

Bonnie took Charlotte's hand while Elijah cradled her and tracked the circle around the star making a pentagram. She began chanting along with Rachel and Lucy. The air began to feel charged around everyone. Damon smiled to himself: it really seemed like they knew what they were doing.

"So, who is the best at entering dreams?" Bonnie asked the group. The group looked at her dumbfounded. She continued, "Charlotte has told me that certain vampires are better at certain things. Just like someone might be better suited to swimming rather than soccer. And that these abilities mature as the vampire ages. I want to send the person who has the best skill at dream-weaving in." Kol snickered at the term "dream-weaving," but he was ignored.

"I'm probably best," Elijah said.

Rebekah looked at him with a confused look on her face. She was actually probably the best at giving someone a false dream without them noticing. Ask Damon Salvatore. Why was Elijah insisting that he was? Should she speak up?

"We both know that is Bekah, brother," Klaus said for her. "I get wanting to save Charlotte, but you have to trust your sister. Play to everyone's strengths."

"And what about Bekah's weakness for mother?" Elijah returned. Rebekah paled and looked as if she was almost going to cry. Elijah's hard expression softened. "I just want this to go as smoothly as possible, Bekah."

Elijah moved to embrace his little sister, but she moved away from him.

"It should be me then" Katherine said.

"What?" Everyone else said at once.

"Your mother might recognize me, obviously, but she will either mistake me for Tatia who is dead or think that I am younger and not take me as seriously. She can't pull on my heart strings like she can any of you. I also happen to be excellent at dreams. The only cons are that none of you trust me and I am too young. The trust in sticky, but now that we are all linked, I can do this. It gives me the element of surprise."

Tatia appeared to all of them standing next to Charlotte's bedside. "You need to know something else. Esther told Charlotte that trapping her is not the main goal. She needs Charlotte out of commission while she does something else. Charlotte is the only one with the power to completely stop it. She is working with the same person who has been trying to kill you all. This means that you still need to get Charlotte awake and up, but that means you have to find out the source as soon as possible. Charlotte might be disoriented when she wakes up, but she needs to get going."

Damon saw the look that crossed Elijah's face when he saw Tatia. It only lasted for a second, but Damon saw it for certain. His heart sunk. This situation was just as complicated as Tatia said it to be. He was fighting a losing battle.

Elijah sighed deeply. "I guess it makes the most sense for Katerina to do it then, if she is as good as she says. It this is not the actual attack that we are worried about, we should stay out and aware. Katerina going in presents the lowest risk."

Bonnie nodded. "Time is of the essence."

Katherine found herself on an endless beach at sunset. The water splashed gently on the shore rhythmically. She wasn't sure what to do next until she saw Charlotte about a half a mile down the coast. She walked over slowly, trying not to draw too much attention to herself.

Charlotte smiled sadly at her. "Well, Kat, sad to say you came at a bad time. Before, there was a whole Alice in Wonderland vibe going on. I pissed off Esther badly so now I am stuck here. She didn't even give me a towel. I even tried drowning myself. _Inception_ lied. It does not automatically mean that you wake up. Instead, it is much more _Groundhog Day. _So what's the plan?"

"I'm taking over the dream."

"You can try, Kat, you can. I don't think it will work."

"We are going to try," she took Charlotte's hand in hers. "First, we are going to bring Esther here. We are going to do it together and there is no room for failure."

The two women began to concentrate at the image of Esther and she slowly appeared in front of them.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise," the witch said. "Is this your sister or the one who hung herself? Either way, she isn't strong enough to stop me."

"Maybe you should think again. I don't really do anything that might cause my untimely death," Katherine retorted. "You're going to leave this dream, if I have to take every bit of myself to do it."

Charlotte watched with awe, horror and love as Katherine did exactly that. There was no outward manifestation of it, but she watched as her mother-in-law slowly left and it was obviously not of her own volition. She never though it would be so easy. She hadn't been able to do it herself, but here was Katherine doing it and barely breaking a sweat.

"See you on the other side," Katherine said and disappeared herself once Esther was good and gone.

Charlotte woke up and looked around the room at all the people who had been keeping vigil over her. It brought a smile to her face until she saw Katherine collapse onto the floor. She dove out of the bed and rushed to her friend.

Katherine wasn't breathing. Charlotte put her head to Katherine's chest to hear for a heartbeat. It was there. It was faint, but it was there. "You better wake up, Boots. Or I will drag your dead ass with me."

"She'll be fine," Bonnie said quietly. "I linked all your life energies together. She will draw from you all and heal." Charlotte simply nodded.

Charlotte slowly stood up some moments later. "Esther," she said menacingly. Not only did her voice have a sinister quality to it, but there was a rumbling powerful aspect to it that no one had heard before. They were amazed as the woman appeared before her.

"I think we have some matters to settle," she told her former mother-in-law. "I bind you, Esther," she said. "I bind you from doing harm to others. You will not be able to do a single thing that could in anyway harm another person. Instead, you will spend your remaining time on this earth thinking about what a terrible mother you have been. You will prepare yourself for the day that your children are finally ready to hear your pathetic explanations for your deplorable behavior. Are we clear?"

Every vampire in the room responded "Yes" at the same time that Esther did.

As Esther disappeared, Damon walked up to Charlotte and asked her, "What the hell was that?!"

Charlotte blushed a deep crimson. "I guess I didn't really finish explaining my power over the dead to you."


	18. The Cold Hard Truth

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it as much as I do. I definitely feel like it was easier to write than the last chapter. Please REVIEW and let me know what you think.**

**CalligraphersNib- I am glad the computer is all settled too. I am really excited at what this storyline is building towards and I can't wait to share it with everyone. Charlotte and Katherine are totally a dream team when it comes to getting things done, although they might not follow all the rules when it comes to getting things done. I promise you will soon find out who is behind this. I wouldn't drag it out forever.**

** Aarolye- I am glad to see that you are back. I was worried that I lost you as a reader. I am glad to see you are still with us. Please let me know what you think!**

Charlotte was a monster of rage in that moment. The slight that Esther had committed against her had upset her, but the connection to the unseen assailant who had been plaguing her since reconnecting with the Mikaelsons had driven her into new heights of anger. The fact that who it was that was hunting them had used the spirit of her dead little sister to try and come after Charlotte and all those she cared about was the final nail in the coffin. All she could think about was making them pay.

Charlotte had been raised in an uncivilized world and as a vampire had trained with warriors since then. She had been taught that each attack deserved a reaction. Showing weakness by ignoring the slight could spell death or dishonor. That kind of thirst for revenge had not been ignited in her for a long time. Yet, here she was ready to rain fire and brimstone down on anyone who would get in the way of her path for vengeance.

This side of Charlotte was a surprise to most of the people around her. Even the Mikaelsons had rarely if even seen here like this. It was probably only Kol who had ever seen her in this kind of rage and he had no idea how to quell it. It was finally Damon who stepped forward to try and get through to her.

"Time out, Charlotte. You and I need to talk. Right now. How about we calm down for a second and stop summoning ghosts. How about you and I go in the other room and just talk for a second?" Damon said as he stepped between Charlotte and the spirit slowly. He put his hands up as someone who is confronted with a person holding a gun might until he realized how ridiculous that was. He laughed slightly and Charlotte responded in kind.

The fire inside Charlotte's eyes calmed down for a second. The sanity seemed to return to the girl. She shook her head as if shaking off the rage and need for rage. "You're right," she said. A small smile crossed her face. "Let's go, Damon," she said guiding him towards her small guest room that had previously been occupied by Rachel. She opened the door and encouraged Damon to enter first knowing it would chafe his sensibilities as a Southern gentleman. He might have done everything he could to pretend that part of him no longer existed, but Charlotte could see glimmers of it every once and a while. He certainly hated when a woman opened a door for him.

Damon sat down on the bed and smoothed the quilt next to him. "Sit down, Charlie."

Damon looked around the room trying to find the words to say what he needed to say to Charlotte. This was not an easy thing for him to say to her. It really didn't feel like his thing to tell her, but Damon could not bring himself to keep it from her. It would hurt enough to know that the whole Mikaelson family had been keeping it from her for hundreds of years. The room looked lovely and welcoming without saying much. It was obviously a guest room. Then a picture of Charlotte and Rebekah in what looked like the 1920s. That was the only thing that felt truly personal in the room. The fact that Charlotte had something that so obviously hinted at her unnaturally lengthened life in plain view spoke to how much she cared about Rebekah. Damon knew however that Rebekah was part of keeping this secret from her. That was all Damon needed to give him the determination to tell Charlotte.

Damon took a deep breath and accepted that he was going to have to bite the bullet and do this. "Charlie, I really don't know how to tell you this and I didn't want to have to, but you should just know."

Charlotte leaned her head on Damon's shoulder and snuggled into him. "Just say it," Charlotte responded. She knew she wasn't going to like it, but it was obviously important if Damon was pulling her aside to tell her even though she was already upset. She was going to just listen, but she was going to take some comfort from Damon while doing it.

"I talked with Tatia. And she told me something that she never told you. Elijah didn't leave you because he didn't love you. She did something to him. She didn't tell me exactly how, but it is like a spell from as far as I can tell. He didn't choose to be in love with her, she forced it. I don't even know if it is love like we know it. All I know is that it is involuntary and that once he is in her presence, even now, he is overcome with this feeling for her." Charlotte let out a small gasp and looked up at Damon with tears filling her eyes quickly and her head still on his shoulder. She stayed silent and waited for him to continue. Damon saw how hard she was trying to wait for him to finish.

He began to run his fingers through her hair to try and soothe her. "Oh, Charlie. I wish I wasn't the one telling you. I know you can tell I have feelings for you. Instead of telling you this, I would rather be telling you how beautiful you are and how funny and how worried you made me when you wouldn't wake up. I can't though. I wish it could just be simple and I could try and charm you and you could be my princess. I genuinely feel like you might just be the girl for me. I can't keep this from you. I made a promise."

Charlotte put a finger to his mouth to silence him. "You don't know how much I appreciate that. I have to tell you that there is something I have been keeping from you. It is big. It is not because I don't want to tell you. We just never got to that part of the story. Your sister isn't dead, Damon. Kol turned her. I had no idea until recently that she is your sister. Once I realized, I knew I had to tell you, but I wanted to tell you everything first, like we promised. She doesn't come into the story until much later. She is being held hostage by an old enemy of the Mikaelsons right now otherwise I would lead you to her right now."

Damon's jaw dropped. "Well, I was not expecting that," he said. He contemplated the bomb she had just dropped. His sister had died more than 5 years before Katherine had come to town. Had Kol Mikaelson really swept through Mystic Falls unnoticed and absconded with his sister? Damon could not even imagine it. "You're sure it's Faye? You're sure that it is my sister? Not someone who is related to us distantly? We aren't the only Salvatores in the world, you know. She could be cousin from my father's side that just happens to have the same name as my sister. I swear that I buried my sister, Charlie."

Charlotte shook her head viciously. "I swear it, Damon. I wouldn't joke about something like this. I know how important family is. There is a whole story behind what I am telling you, but I haven't had time to explain."

Damon nodded then shook his head viciously. "Let's talk about that later. I am not saying I don't believe you, but I can't handle that right now. Later, when it is just you and me you can explain it all to me and we can figure out whether or not it is actually my sister we are talking about. I need to finish telling you this first. We can talk about whether or not my older sister is a vampire later."

Damon put his hand until Charlotte's chin and tilted her head up so that they were making eye contact. "They all knew, Charlie," she said making sure she was looking at him and taking what he said seriously. "All the Mikaelsons have known about this. They have been trying to fix it, but have had no success yet. They didn't tell you about it though. They kept this secret from you. That is why I needed to tell you. We are supposed to be honest with each other and I couldn't keep this to myself."

Charlotte stayed silent and broke eye contact with Damon. Instead, she stared at the center of his chest so that he would not catch her eye until they were ready to talk. She stayed silent for nearly five whole minutes. She breathed a deep sigh and then stood up. "I just can't believe you, Damon. I believe that you think this is true and I appreciate that you have told me, but they wouldn't do that to me. These people are like family to me. They wouldn't lie to me like that. I just can't accept that they would not tell me about this kind of major information. This would change every single thing if it were true. You get that, Damon?"

A sad smile crossed Damon's face. He couldn't bring himself to repeat that what he was saying was absolutely true. He could see that this was something that Charlotte's whole world view was based on. He couldn't take that away from her. Maybe one, even two, Mikaelsons would keep the truth from her about something, but not a massive deception on this scale. She was not going to accept it until she could see the proof. Damon knew that now that she would be looking, the proof would pop up and knock her over. Damon just hoped he would be there to catch her.

Charlotte walked back into her bedroom where everyone else was gathered. She nodded to everyone in the room. She started looking closely at each of the Mikaelsons in the room. She couldn't bring herself to believe that they would keep something this big from her. This defined the whole relationship between her and Elijah. They couldn't possibly keep this from her.

Not ready to confront this idea, she walked over to Katherine, who someone had laid on the bed where Charlotte had been resting. It was certainly eerie. Charlotte knelt next to the bed and took Katherine's hand in her own. She watched Katherine's chest rise slowly. Charlotte could tell by just looking that she was better, but not ready to get up and have a karaoke dance party with her. If what Damon said was true, Charlotte could really only rely on Katherine as far as the people in this room. Damon, too, but he was new friend He was extremely new compared to the other friendships that Charlotte was comparing it to. Charlotte needed Katherine. This girl knew how to make any situation fun. Charlotte could think of all the different ways Katherine had brought laughter to her life. Their initial interaction had been concerning Katherine's run for safety. Charlotte had taught her everything that she knew to keep Katherine safe. Once they had gotten past that, they were wild children. Once the 1960s hit, they really hit their stride. The 1920s had been too plagued by Charlotte's loss of Rebekah. Once the flower children blossomed, Katherine and Charlotte embraced it fully just for the fun of it. They would never actually live like that. It was just nice to try the lifestyle on for a while. They could get up to the kind of shenanigans that people would think that only teenage girls would be capable of and they enjoyed every minute of it.

"Wake up, Kat, please," she whispered. Her eyelids began to flutter and she weakly opened her eyes. A tiny smile blossomed on Katherine's face. "Glad to see you're back," Katherine said in a haggard voice. "I was worried for a moment there that I was going to lose you."

Charlotte laughed heartily. "Couldn't have that, could we?" Charlotte asked. "You wouldn't have a friend in the world."

Katherine quirked an eyebrow as if to challenge that statement. The two girls broke into identical smiled and touched foreheads. That one moment gave Charlotte enough strength to do what she needed to do. "Thank you," she whispered to Katherine and stood up.

"Tatia," she called. Her little sister appeared in front of her looking sheepish. Charlotte saw the look that involuntarily crossed Elijah's face upon seeing her sister and her rage bloomed fully once more and she was ready for a fight.


	19. You Wouldn't Like Her When She's Angry

**Thank you to lets-not-go-there and smilin steph for favoriting the story and AshleyMarie2010 for following.**

** Aarolye and CalligraphersNib, thank you for the reviews and sorry for the wait. I realize that taking a month to post is not a nice way to say that, but your reviews always buoy me. **

** To everyone, sorry that it took so long, I started class at the very beginning of October and haven't sat still since. It is fourth year which means a BA and the like so I will try to update, but please be patient with me. I promise I will not abandon the story! I am getting ready to really kick things into gear with this. I am going to work out a schedule for updating that will hopefully be happy making for everyone.**

** Seriously, review please. It just takes a second and it makes me so happy and so ready to update. And I love input. I have a general idea for this fic but that doesn't mean I am going to ignore suggestions. In fact, I love them!**

**Thanks,**

**Lisolotte**

The whole room began to vibrate. This time it was the kind of vibration that everyone could hear, not just Jeremy Gilbert. Tears began to build up in Charlotte's eyes. "Leave, Kat," she bit out.

A lot of pure confusion crossed Katherine's face. "I don't understand," she said weakly.

Charlotte's eyes never left Elijah who was staring emotionlessly back at her. "There are things happening. Very bad things. Other people's actions have put you in the middle. I am removing you. Leave, Katherine. This is not your fight." There was a certain hollowness to Charlotte's voice that was entirely foreign to Katherine. "GO KAT," she yelled. "I don't want to fight you, too, just go until you are no longer in the middle."

"Are you serious?" Katherine whispered. She looked truly broken for the first time in the recent memory of anyone in the room. "What did I do?" she asked hopelessly. Charlotte simply closed her eyes and did not answer. Katherine slowly got up from the bed and ran with tears running down her face.

Charlotte's cold gaze remained on Elijah. "Nothing?" she asked with a quirked brow. "I just threw out my oldest and best friend in the world because of you!" she howled. Rebekah made an indignant noise. Charlotte turned on her. "You certainly don't think I would consider you a friend after this, right?" she asked. Rebekah looked on the verge of tears. Charlotte almost felt bad, but then she remembered just how far this went. "Tell me it isn't true," she taunted in a soft and dangerous voice as her eyes moved from Rebekah to Klaus to Elijah and finally to Kol. Rebekah burst into a loud sob and Klaus had the dignity to appear ashamed. Kol stepped towards Charlotte and a look of purest disgust blossomed on her face.

"It's not like that, Sweets. I swear. We were just protecting our brother. And we couldn't fix it what could you possibly do? We didn't want to hurt you more than you already had been. It let your love of Elijah die and allowed you to move on."

"I never moved on," she said with the most menace you could fit in a quiet voice. "And every one of you made a fool of me. How dare you all stand here and act like I should not be ripping you to shreds until the screaming headache that is building in my poor confused head abates. How dare all of you. What could possibly have motivated you to even think for a moment that this was okay? What kind of fool do you think I am? Am I that meaningless to all of you?" Charlotte's words echoed hollowly in the room. Every single person looked ashamed now except for Elijah. He stared her straight on. She moved to start in on him again, but the doorbell rang. "Not a single one of you move. This conversation is not over."

Charlotte answered the door to see Stefan, Elena, Caroline, Matt, Jeremy and Meredith looking very upset. "Please come in to explain what is going on," she said emotionlessly. They entered one by one. Meredith Fell was the last person to come in and she grabbed Charlotte in a fierce hug. Immediately, a confusion settled over all the occupants of the room. Not a single person had known that Charlotte and the good doctor knew each other, let alone were good enough friends to be on hugging terms.

Charlotte quirked an eyebrow at the group who had just arrived. "What happened," she asked.

"Someone tried to kill me," Jeremy answered. He lifted his shirt to reveal a rather large bandage on his abdomen, that explained the need to have Meredith there.

Charlotte nodded. "Makes sense," she responded. She turned on Rebekah. "What happened in the '20s, Rebekah?"

Rebekah paled considerably. "I tried to tell you, Lottie, I did. Do you know how hard it is to be caught between your family and your best friend? I thought it was wrong to keep it from you the entire time, but they insisted. What was I supposed to do?"

Charlotte's face betrayed absolutely no emotion. On a girl who showed her every thought on her face, the effect was terrifying. She looked to Klaus and Kol. "I suppose you will both claim that you were following the company line, also?" she asked. They were not given the chance to respond before she turned on Elijah. "And you! What made you think I didn't deserve to know? This changes _everything_. I remember how I was when I first met you," her voice turned soft. "You were so sweet and kind and perfect. I was in love with you before I could blink. And even better yet, you liked me. Tatia wasn't even on your radar. Do you know how that felt?" her voice cracked here. "Tatia always overshadowed me. She was just too compelling for people to see me, even if I was standing right next to her. And here was this perfect guy that I was nuts over. He liked me. He liked ME. We had a beautiful and simple wedding. That day, I got a person to spend the rest of my life with and then I got a whole family.

"I was seven months pregnant when I found out that my whole perception was wrong. When I found out, it ripped me to shreds. Can you imagine how that felt? After all the love and hope I put into you, that you chose her over me? **I died that day. **And now I find out that it isn't what actually happened! Do you know how much hurt you could have saved me?" Tears began to run down her cheeks like rapids. She began to pound on Elijah's chest and he stood there and took every single hit. "Your family corrupted me. So I left, and you know what? A secret for a secret, Elijah. Our baby never died. I gave birth to a baby girl. And I let someone else raise our daughter because I wanted a better life for her. She was so beautiful and perfect, Elijah. And I let someone else—I let someone else call her their daughter to protect her."

A muscle in Elijah's jaw began to twitch. Charlotte smacked him across the cheek. "You don't get to be upset. I don't regret it. Not even a little bit. Because your monster of a mother would have done something horrible to my daughter. I did what I had to do and I would do it all again. My daughter lived a happy full life and never had to deal with any of this bullshit. Our bloodline lives on." Sobs began to rack Charlotte's small frame. Her anger had sustained her until this moment and the truth of what had been uncovered finally hit her.

Everyone in the room wanted to hug her but only one person did. In a move that was both surprising and unsurprising to everyone, Caroline Beula Forbes hugged her and held her while she cried. This went on with everyone feeling varying degrees of shame until Charlotte abruptly ran from the house after thanking Caroline in the smallest voice.

Elijah turned to Damon with a dark look on his face. "You felt it necessary to tell her?"

Damon shrugged. "I made a promise to always be truthful to her."

Kol stepped forward ready to break every bone in Damon's body. Elijah put his hand up. "I can respect that." He slowly sauntered up to Damon until he was close enough to kiss him. "Don't mistake that for anything other than respect for honor though. Charlotte is my wife and I have loved her for 1000 years. Quite literally. So don't think I am going to let some cocky baby vampire step in and take the most perfect woman ever created away from me." Elijah brushed an imaginary piece of lint off Damon's shoulder and walked out of Charlotte's house with each of his siblings following him not sparing anyone a look.

A few minutes later, Caroline's phone chimed. "Klaus says that his family will protect us as long as we stay in Charlotte's house while they figure out what to do about whoever attacked Jeremy."

"How does Klaus have your number?" Meredith asked.

Caroline blushed slightly and narrowed her eyes at Meredith. "Why did you hug Charlotte like you were old friends?"

"I'd rather not answer."

"Me either."

Damon's phone pinged in the silence that followed and he smiled. "Looks like I have something to do that will take me away from this otherwise fascinating conversation. No one die while I'm gone."

-AHC-

Damon got off the plane in Las Vegas carrying Charlotte's bags. They got into a cab silently and remained that way while they drove, checked into their hotel and rode the elevator. Once the bellhop was gone, Charlotte removed her sunglasses. She stood in front of the window looking out on the city. The sun was setting and Damon watched her while she watched the sun go down.

She turned to him once it was fully set and smiled shyly. "This is our lost weekend, Day. No one is ever going to find out what happens this weekend. We are going to let go. We are going to give into every single impulse that we have. And we are going to forget all that emotion shit and just live for this one weekend. Ready?"

Damon smiled devilishly. "I was born ready, princess."


	20. An Affair to Remember

**I hope you are ready for this. I am attempting low level smut for the first time in honor of chapter 20. I hope that you guys aren't too disappointed by how it goes. Just remember that anticipation makes the payout so much better! **** Also, as a special treat, I have made the chapter a little extra length just to say thank you.**

** Thank you to optimisticspaz for following me and the story! Thank you to croonsgirl for following and favoriting the story! It is even that little kind of feedback that motivates me.**

** Laura-LaLa, thank you for the review! Glad to hear from you again. I think a little bit of Damon is exactly what Charlotte needs right now. She is having a rough time of it and needs a little fun.**

** CalligraphersNib, an update doesn't feel right without your feedback! Last chapter was very hard to right. I put a lot of myself into Charlotte so that makes it hard to write such brutal chapters for her. I am glad that it came across so nicely for you. Poor girl is in for the quite the ride when it comes to emotions. I hope ya'll are buckled in!**

** As always, PLEASE REVIEW (I love them more than unicorns and rainbows and Ryan Gosling).**

**Thanks,**

**Lisolotte**

Charlotte swirled the liquor in her glass and a wry smile bloomed on her delicate face. She was 12 hours into her lost weekend with Damon and she knew know that she had made the right choice. They only had 60 hours left before they had to return to the real world and all the stupid problems that had been going on in their lives. Instead of worrying about that, they were going to drink as much booze as they could, gorge themselves in blood and deal with their drama by completely ignoring it. She turned and looked at Damon across the room. He was magnificent. He was gorgeous and dangerous and totally into her. Charlotte knew that part of her was just reacting to the fact that she felt completely betrayed by Elijah after finding out just how long he and his siblings had been lying to her. That wasn't it, though. There was something about Damon. She genuinely had an attraction to him and beyond that they worked emotionally. No, there it was again: the guilt. She didn't want to have to save people and she didn't want to have to choose between Elijah and Damon. She loved Elijah for almost all of her life. But he had betrayed her in ways that could not even be described. She might never be able to deal with her anger at him, but she might not be able to get over him. Damon was new and fresh and easy. She had passion with Damon, but she also felt comfortbale with him. She could be herself and not having to worry about anything. The thing is she wanted to stop worrying for a while. She wanted to live free; free of the stress, the guilt, the apprehension and the pain. Damon was perfect for that right now.

Damon caught Charlotte looking at him and she winked. She set her drink down and sauntered over to him. The bar was packed with people who were just dying to be used by Damon and Charlotte. It took her a while to work her way over to Damon, but she enjoyed every minute of staring at him. She put her arms around his neck and started to sway to the music.

Damon began to follow her lead. "I won't say that I am not enjoying this new attitude of yours, princess, but what brings the change?"

Charlotte smiled and cast her eyes down for a second. "Well," she started. "I am being a flower child again. Katherine and I ruled that time. No longer having to worry about society and propriety. We spent the whole 1960s just being. We could be anything we wanted to be. Just free love and danger and drugs."

"You did drugs?!" Damon asked with mock shock.

"I don't kill people to feed, Damon. I still have fun. I can be _lots_ of fun." She added a wink for emphasis. "Maybe I will kill people now. Who knows? Nothing makes sense anymore. I cannot believe the kinds of things that now makes sense after Tatia's little revelation and the things that no longer make sense. The world just feels so impossible now. Am I just not enough? After 1000 years you think I would have sorted things out. You know, figured myself out and how to live my life. God, I am so warm."

Damon smiled warmly at her and laughed. "You are drunk my dear. You are both ranting and babbling at once which I must say is quite a feat."

Charlotte returned his laugh in turn. "Yes," she agreed. "I cannot remember the last time I truly was. You would not believe how much vodka I had to down. I think that poor bartender is clean out of Ketel One now. Goddamn vampire metabolism. Helps me keep my girlish figure though."

"Tell me about the '60s, Charlotte. You light up when you talk about that time with Katherine. I know you haven't told me the whole story, but how about we skip ahead?"

Charlotte shook her head and her long dark hair fell in front of her dark and sparkling eyes. Since "ejecting" from life as she called it, the bright and exuberant light had returned to her life. She was so adorable that Damon almost threw her over his shoulder and took her upstairs to tickle and tease her until she forgot all that horrible business that the big bad Mikaelson family had done to her.

"That might be nice, but that is not how stories work. Telling them out of order can mean that you miss something," she censured Damon. She looked at him with steel in her eyes for a second. "I can continue telling you my story though. That might be nice. Just until it gets too heavy. Then, you're going upstairs with me."

"Upstairs for what purpose?" Damon teased.

"You know exactly what purpose," Charlotte said unflinchingly.

"What are you going to do about Katherine, Charlotte? Are you worried about her?"

Charlotte scrunched her nose at him. "I don't want to worry about that right now, Day. How about we just go back to telling my story. You want to hear my story, don't you?"

Damon nodded gently to tell her to begin her story.

"I am sure you know the story of how Henrik Mikaelson died and how that caused Esther to want to protect her family at whatever the cost. That happened right around the time that I left while pregnant. After I found out about Elijah's affair with Tatia, I ran and hid until my daughter's birth. I found a nice family to raise her and protect her. I put everything in place to make sure that she would be safe. And then I did the hardest thing I ever did: I left my baby girl. The last thing I saw of her before we met again after her death was her first smile which was her parting gift for me.

"After that, I returned to what you now called Mystic Falls and put in place the elaborate lie that ensured that not a soul knew about my daughter's birth. I pretended to reconcile with Elijah and planned on living my life in order to protect my daughter. I even forged a truce with Tatia. I was committed to living this way for my whole life if it meant that I would keep my daughter safe from the Mikaelsons for as long as she lived. Then Esther got in the way," at this point she rolled her eyes. "She killed my sister and turned her children into vampires. I was the last person she saw before Klaus ripped her still beating heart from her chest. I told her that I hoped she died for all the horrible things she had done." A hollow bitter laugh escaped Charlotte's lips at this point. "I guess I got exactly what I wanted. Too bad that meant that the nasty witch was still in my daily life. I wish that I had told her that I hoped to never hear or see from her again."

"Princess, you can stop if you want," Damon offered. "If it's too much for you, we can stop talking about this. That beefy guy in the corner looks scrumptious. You can take a huge bite out of him if you want."

Charlotte shook her head and her eyes brimmed with tears, but she stuck her chin out defiantly. Charlotte was many things, but a coward was not one of those things. "I am going to get through this. I will get through the hard part of this story and then we will have fun. The best kind of fun will be had by us once I get finished telling the most painful part of this story to you. Then we can have fun and eventually I will tell you the easier parts that are way more interesting. I don't want to store it up and wait until later to tell it. I want to tell it now, Damon, and get rid of the feelings. We are going to use this weekend to rid ourselves of every single bad thing we have built up in our hearts." She licked her lips and began again. "Once they turned, the Mikaelsons adapted to being vampires. Every problem that any newborn vampire has had, they had a hundredfold. The worst thing was that they had nothing to compare it with. They were literally inventing the wheel. Rebekah mastered control first. Bet you thought that it was Elijah. She fed from me eventually. It was part of helping her to control herself. It was how we knew she was truly ready. She began to wonder what feeding me her blood would do. We were amazed to see that it healed me. She then began to wonder how far it would heal me. She broke my leg and saw my leg heal itself. Rebekah is highly curious and brilliantly deductive. You might not know this. People get caught up in the brat persona and think she has nothing else. She is basically Sherlock Holmes though. In fact, I would call her a savant if you pressed me. Anyway, she wondered if it could heal me from death. We had done basically done everything short of killing me and Rebekah's blood had returned me to the best of health.

"She wasn't willing to risk it though. What if she was wrong. Someone else did it for her. In a fit of pure rage, Kol shoved me and broke my neck."

Damon interrupted her. "Kol killed you?! The same guy who was ready to kill me for telling you about their grand deception of you?"

"Don't judge, sir. Don't tell me you haven't killed many a person that you regretted later." A dark look passed across Damon's face at this. Charlotte put her hand on her shoulder. "I am willing to listen, too, when you are ready."

"Continue your story," Damon said quietly.

"Thankfully, Rebekah's blood was in my system. Who knows what would have happened had it been a little later in the day. Well, we know what would have happened. I would have died if there wasn't any blood in my system. I wonder if that would have changed anything. No. I am not going to start with that again. Back to the story- he was upset with Klaus. They had had one of their blow outs that day and with his heightened newborn vampire emotions, he was out of control. I stepped in to try and calm him down. He shoved him to get me out of the way, but I am not very big and I flew. Broken neck happened just like that. In that moment, I was the first vampire turned. Boring stuff. Around that time, they realized they could not stay in town without people noticing that they weren't aging. So, we all left. Rebekah chose to stay with the Mikaelsons. I respected it. I understood it. I hated her for it. I was alone again. That is when my life took a turn for the better. Until now, that is." Charlotte frowned. "I think that is the end of storytime tonight. Hardest part is over. And I think I am ready to go upstairs."

Damon looked slightly uncomfortable. "The night is still young," he hedged. "How about we see what Vegas has to offer before we retire for the night? There is a whole city out there for us to take over."

She ran her fingers through Damon's hair. "You beautiful man, let's set this town on fire."

-AHC-

Charlotte put her mouth to the neck of a beautiful blond woman slowly. She drank deeply and slowly. She stopped when she felt the girl's pulse start to fade. She scratched her wrist and offered her wrist to the girl. She smiled at Damon with the girl's blood still running down her chin.

They had been running around the town for nearly 5 hours now. Damon wasn't sure how much longer he could avoid the eventual end that Charlotte had in mind for this night. There were only so many bars and casinos that they could go to before the whole experience would sour. He didn't want to take away from the whole experience and put an end to the lost weekend. He was glad for it, but sleeping with Charlotte seemed like the worst idea.

It wasn't that Damon didn't want to sleep with Charlotte. He did and badly. The problem was that he did not want to just be a rebound for her. If he was being honest with himself, which for whatever reason he had decided to be, he was seriously interested in Charlotte. He would want to ride off into the sunset with her. Instead, he was being offered lost weekend sex with her after going on a booze and blood spree. He should be excited about this. What could be sexier? Hell, she was feeding off a woman right in front of him. He should be ready to throw her down the table after feeding off the little blond together. Instead, he was wallowing in feelings like _Stefan_. Ugh. Damon wanted to stop feeling. He couldn't. Charlotte was beautiful and perfect and broken and she smiled at him. He wanted to fix her and protect her.

Charlotte had slowly crept over to Damon during the time that he had been brooding. She once again linked her arms around his neck. "Damon, why have you been ignoring me? Do you not want to sleep together after tonight? I thought that was where we were going. Am I misreading this?"

Damon tucked Charlotte's wayward hair behind her eyes. "You are not misreading this at all, princess. That is not the problem here. I want you. Not like this though. I care about you. I hate it, but I care. I want to wake up next to you and all that stupid stuff."

"All that stupid stuff?" Charlotte asked.

Damon laughed, but it sounded hollow at the end.

"I am not sleeping with you because I am rebounding from Elijah. That would have happened around 1000 years ago. I want to sleep with you because I have been drawn to you since I met you and I am tired of denying myself that because of other people and their stupid drama." Charlotte stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Damon deeply.

"Oh, fuck it," Damon growled and picked her up. He carried her to the curb where he called a cab. Once in the cab, Charlotte repositioned herself in Damon's lap. "You're sure?" she asked Damon. He nodded at her and a devious smile blossomed on her face. She leaned in again and began kissing him again like there was nothing else in the world. She began to move her hips and felt his body react to her movement. She practically purred.

"You want to do this in the back seat of a cab?" Damon asked her barely removing his mouth from hers. Charlotte responded by ripping his shirt off. Damon sunk his teeth into Charlotte's neck and began drinking her blood. She moaned and threw her head back causing the taxi driver to glare at her. She pulled a few hundred dollar bills out of her back pocket and thrust them at him. Damon took his mouth from her neck and offered his to her. Charlotte was amazed at how connected she felt with him after sharing blood. What had been a hot makeout session turned into an explosive hook up. Charlotte could not take her hands off of Damon. He took her mouth again and she began to rake her fingers down his back. Charlotte reached down between them and freed him from his pants.

"Ready?" she asked. Damon growled in response. He tugged down her pants and found her pantiless. He gave her a truly breathtaking smile. Charlotte lifted herself up and impaled herself on him. She clutched his shoulders and adjusted to his size. She looked him deep in the eyes and began to move up and down. Less than a minute later, she reached the most powerful climax of her life, taking Damon along with her. She laid her head down on his shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Damon," she said in a slightly huskier voice. "How's about we christen that hotel room? I bet I can show you things that you have never seen before."

"Is that a promise, princess? Because as long as that is true, I think we won't be leaving this hotel for the rest of our long weekend."


	21. Why Didn't You Tell Me Earlier

**I'm back. I know it has been a long time. I am so sorry about that. A whole lot of mess has been going on. I won't bore you with the details, but it was not intentional to take such a big break from the story. I know this isn't very long, but I am starting the next chapter right after. I am hoping to get on a better schedule. That being said, let's just jump right in.**

**CalligraphersNib: thank you so much! I am glad to hear that. I really am feeling the sweeter side of Damon right now. He doesn't get to be sweet often enough on the show because he is all bogged down in drama. **

**MusicalLover17: glad you loved it! I hope you keep reading.**

**Thank you to OniAya, Selene101, Beckyy, and stjarna11 for favoriting the story.**

**Thank you to DevilInWhite, m0nalisaarOldai88, crazyluna456, babeelove, Reedy-Girl and newgirl5 for following the story.**

**Thank you to MusicalLover17 for following and favoriting the story.**

**And a big thank you to MiaSalvatore and Jillybean for the the big 4 of following and favoriting me AND following and favoriting the story.**

**-Lisolotte**

Charlotte sat in the hotel room that she and Damon had destroyed. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea to her. She had enjoyed the hell out of it too. The problem was that her lost weekend was over now. She had to confront reality once again.

Damon had gotten a call that had woken them both up and he had gone off running to save the day or something. He didn't stop to tell her so it must have been important. Charlotte hoped that it was important.

She was dragging her legs when it came to actually leaving Las Vegas. That would mean actually ending her weekend.

Klaus strode in the door and end the thought. The real world had come to find her. How unfortunate.

"Get up and stop pouting, Charlotte. Really. I know that we have upset you, but I am not cleaning up your mess for you this time. Last time was more than enough for me."

Charlotte was shocked. She had no idea what Klaus was talking about. "What mess of mine have you ever had to clean up, Niklaus? There is certainly nothing to clean up this time," she snapped at him.

"Really, kitten? Is that really what you think ? You think that all of what went down on your wild little weekend won't cause major waves? The things that you did here are going to destroy my brother, not to mention the little pack that he runs with. Quite the incestuous bunch."

Charlotte rose to her full height and got close to Klaus's face. "Dear Niklaus, I do not care what your brother thinks of my actions. I might have married him 1000 years ago, but I gave up all obligation to him when he slept with my sister."

"So that made it okay for you to sleep with his brother?"

Charlotte hesitated. "What are you talking about?" she asked gently. "I have never slept with any of his brothers. Are you trying to say that I slept with you?"

Klaus raked a hand through his hair. He took Charlotte's hand and sat her down. "Maybe you don't remember because I compelled you, but I don't recall telling you to forget what happened," he started and tried to sooth her by rubbing the back of her hand. "That is why I daggered Kol back in the teens. You two had slept together and that was too much to bear, I daggered Kol and kept your secret."

Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Nik, I never slept with your brother." He started to interrupt her, but she put up her hand to silence him. "Kol thought that the love of his life had been murdered. In fact, he only found out recently that she was not. I comforted him. He fell asleep crying in my arms. That is all. I never **ever **slept with your brother. You believe me, right?"

Klaus looked speechless. He looked deep into Charlotte's eyes as if to ascertain the truth of what she was saying to him. He paused for nearly a full minute before he made a decision about it. "I'm sorry, Lottie…I…I truly thought it had happened. I mean…I would understand if it had. I would understand why you would want to get revenge on Elijah."

Charlotte ruffled his hair. "It's fine, Nik. Did you tell anyone?"

"No, no," Klaus choked out. "But I did dagger my brother for almost 100 years. I feel a little bad about that."

Charlotte laughed. "Wait, can we take this moment to acknowledge this moment? Is Sir Niklaus Mikaelson feeling guilty for daggering his siblings? Is this a real life moment? Are you acknowledging that you should not in fact dagger your siblings at will and whim?"

"Don't push it, kitten."

"Come on, you are finally starting to grow up. I'm proud of you. A little personal growth can be good. At least, after 1000 years, I would hope for some. Is this because you want to be a better person for Caroline?"

Klaus only grunted.

"She is lovely, Nik. I would understand why. It's good. You two are so wrong that it is magically right. You haven't murdered anyone in ages. I mean, you are acting like an adult. That is something to celebrate."

Klaus blushed slightly and stood up. He put his hands out and helped Charlotte get up. "Pack your bags, kitten. We still have an unknown force that is trying to murder us and I would like to bring that to an end."

Charlotte laughed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, I handled your mother. Can you guys not do anything without me?"

"'Fraid not, Sweets," Kol said from the doorway. "I am utterly hopeless without you by my side. I need you back in my daily life."

Charlotte laughed and looked at Klaus with a quirked eyebrow. "You brought Kol with you?"

He blushed once more. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Charlotte lay on her stomach on the floor of the grand ballroom in the Mikaelson mansion. The place was a bit too much for her. There was something charming about it still. She had been taking notes and trying to map out what they knew and how everything was interconnected. The truth was, there was so much interconnectedness between the members of this group.

Looking at all the things she knew mapped out in front of her, Charlotte was amazed at how many secrets she still had from her "friends." It almost made her willing to consider forgiving the Mikaelsons. She understood secrets, but this secret was so big and so important. To keep her in the dark like this for 1000 years was unforgivable. They needed to recognize this before she even considered talking to them.

Caroline Forbes came and sat down next to Charlotte. She sat and looked sheepish. "What is up, buttercup?" Charlotte asked without looking up.

"Buttercup," Caroline asked nervously.

Charlotte nodded and moved a few pieces of paper around. "With your sunny disposition and lovely blonde hair, you remind me of a buttercup. But no prevaricating, Forbes. What do you need?"

"Well," she started. "I was elected by the group to ask you what exactly you are doing. The Mikaelsons are understandably keeping their distance and thinking of ways to atone. Damon has been weird ever since you guys came back and you aren't really close with any of us. Well, Meredith but she really does what she wants and only what she wants. But I like you and thought you might be willing to tell me. "

Charlotte turned to Caroline and gave her a small smile. "You remind me of someone I once knew. She was a lovely girl and always brought out the best in people." She paused to give Caroline a sly smile. "I know Klaus might seem rough around the edges, but he has the potential to be a really great guy. He just has a really rough history. It doesn't excuse the things that he has done in the past. I just think that he could atone. You know… in the future."

Caroline bit her lip and thought about what Charlotte was saying. "Well, yeah. That might be true. I don't even know. The thing is, I am much more worried about keeping us all…not dead."

Charlotte laughed. "I like being not dead myself." She tried to get her things back into a nice stack. And then spread them out again in frustration. "I am trying to find a clue. To find the one thing that can help us figure out who is behind all of this. There is just so much." She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "Honestly, I should have Becca helping me with this. She is brilliant. She is like Sherlock Holmes brilliant when it comes to figuring stuff out. I just cannot stand her face right now."

Caroline rubbed Charlotte's shoulder. "It's fine. It will work out. And I totally understand. Trusting people means that sometimes they screw you over. Even when they are trying to help you out." She leaned over and rested her head on Charlotte's shoulder. "Wait, you said I reminded you of someone earlier. You were not talking about Rebekah were you? If you are going to attack me in a fight of righteous but misplaced anger, could you give me a heads up?"

Charlotte smiled. "I wasn't talking about Rebekah. You are similar in some ways, but not the ones I was speaking of. I was talking about Alexia. She was my great-granddaughter of sorts. I turned her in the late 1600s. She was one of my few descendants to turn."

A thoughtful look crossed Caroline's face. "You don't mean Lexi, do you? Like Stefan's Lexi?"

Charlotte sat up quickly. "What do you mean Stefan's Lexi?"

Caroline looked flustered, "Lexi was Stefan's best friend…"

"What do you mean **was**?"

"Damon killed her," Caroline said softly.

"Damon. Damon Salvatore. He staked Alexia Branson? Tall, blonde, warm and loving? That Alexia Branson?"

Caroline looked sad and almost on the verge of tears. "You didn't know?" she asked gently.

Charlotte stormed into the Salvatore boarding house. "DAMON. STEFAN. We are going to have a meeting now."

The two brothers came in slowly, confused looks blossoming on both their faces.

"Alexia Branson," she stated when they both finally got in front of her.

Stefan looked confused. "How did you know Lexi?"

Tears started to well up in her eyes. "How **did** I knowLexi not how **do **I know Lexi?" she barely whispered.

Damon blanched. "I killed her, Charlotte. A while ago. I used her death to throw attention off us. And to punish Stefan."

The tears began to run freely down Charlotte's face and she collapsed onto the floor. Caroline knelt down next to her and tried to comfort her. "She was Charlotte's super great granddaughter. Like through her daughter with Elijah," Caroline attempted to explain to the Salvatore brothers.

Charlotte straightened up and wiped her face. She rubbed her eyes. "It was a shock is all."

"I'm sorry, Charlie. There is literally no excuse for what I did. I am truly sorry too. I…" Damon struggled to find the words to say to her next.

Caroline carefully put an arm around Charlotte and lead her out of the boarding house.

Caroline took Charlotte to her house instead of back to the Mikaelson's. "We are having an emergency sleepover. Just me and you and ice cream and romantic comedies. You are in need of some serious pampering."

Charlotte smiled a sad little smile. "Thank you, Caroline, you really don't have to do this."

"I am though," Caroline responded. "I happen to love ice cream and rom coms. You are also really cool and deserve better than you have been getting from these Mikaelsons and Salvatores. I have been on the receiving end of their buttheadedness myself and I wish there had been someone to help me through it."

Charlotte smiled a little more assuredly. "Okay, Bridget Jones's Diary first."

Caroline and Charlotte spent the night braiding each other's hair, eating way too much ice cream, prank calling strangers and giggling.


	22. Angst, Angst, Angst

**Here's the next chapter as promised!**

**Please, if you feel like it, REVIEW. I am playing with the canon of the show quite heavily. I am not changing anything that we know, but just deciding the things that we do not. Hope this is not offensive to anyone at all. If I stuck hard to the things that happened/have started happening in the show since I started writing, I would basically be ripping off the show. Instead, I want to address all the things I wish we could see. Or the things that the characters don't say. That being said, feedback would be the best!**

**-Lisolotte**

"What are you going to do?" Caroline asked Charlotte in between bites of ice cream. They were on their third tub. After watching _the Notebook_, they had begun to gorge themselves. Now they were on their fourth film of the night.

Charlotte sighed. "I don't know. It is not like I can ignore the fact that he murdered Lexi. I just need to understand what happened."

"That is totally true, but what was that whole speech you gave me earlier about Klaus? People who might have done bad things, but have the potential to change and grow and become actual productive human beings?"

Charlotte huffed. "I meant what I said about Klaus."

"So, how can you not apply it to everyone you know? Don't get me wrong. I am not a fan of Damon Salvatore. At all. He used me for blood and sex when I was human. Doing something that makes him happy is very very low on my list of things to do. I would like to help you though. I would like if you realized that he sucks for your own reasons. Like that he is a horrible human being."

Charlotte ate a huge fistful of popcorn. "He did what?!"

"It's fine," Caroline said quickly. "Let's focus on other things than my damage. I mean, it isn't the only time that someone has tortured me. It happens like all the time. I get over it. I am stronger than that. I am fine. See?"

Charlotte took both of Caroline's hands in her own. "No. NO. There is no excuse for anyone ever to mistreat you. In any way. But especially when it comes to torturing and/or abusing you. You get that right? Like I don't care who we are talking about. I could even be me mistreating you and it is not okay." Caroline started to tear up. "Just because we are vampires does not mean that we are monsters, Caroline. Sure, we are different than humans. Our bodies are different and our emotions are different, sure. That doesn't mean we need to rid ourselves of morality. Humans make the choice between being good or bad. The same for vampires. It is different, but not opposite."

Caroline pulled Charlotte into a hug. "Thank you, seriously. You have no idea what it means to me to hear that. But this is getting too sad. How about we break out the tequila instead of the tears?"

"This doesn't mean this conversation is over," Charlotte said.

"Fine, sure. Sounds great. Tequila now."

Elena was staring at Charlotte and Caroline all cuddled up on the couch. She had come over to ask Caroline what she had found out from Charlotte and here she was. Elena had no idea why she was there though. And why she and Caroline were sleeping on top of each other. The tequila bottles littering the floor were a pretty big clue. Elena just couldn't understand why. Confused as to what to do, Elena picked up a few books off the coffee table and dropped them.

Charlotte and Caroline sat straight up with rumpled hair. "Uhm, hi?" Charlotte said.

"Hung over?" Elena asked.

Charlotte smiled. "Nah, vampire metabolism."

"Well, feeling up to a group strategy session? Everyone is meeting at the Mikaelsons to figure things out. No one has disturbed your notes, but it would be really nice to know what it is that you do know."

Charlotte ran her hand through her hair, "Alright sounds good. But I know like nothing."

Charlotte was sitting in the Mikaelson living room in the dress that she had stolen out of Caroline's closet last night. Caroline told her that she had bought it for a school dance but never ended up wearing it. It was pink and glittery and made her feel like a princess when she had first put it on. Now, she felt kind of silly.

Everyone was just waiting around, hoping someone else would start.

Elijah took that moment to make it very clear that everything does _not _stay in Vegas. "Well, Charlotte, would you do us the pleasure of telling us exactly what you have figured out in the process of papering our ballroom floor or has your debauchery exhausted you that much?"

Charlotte coolly met Elijah's gaze. "No need to get snippy because one of us took a break to have some fun. That's all it was. A little harmless fun. No need to get so testy." Elijah simply stared back at her.

"This is fun," Kol added.

"Really, Kol? Maybe you should shut up," Rebekah responded.

"Maybe Charlotte could just tell us what she had found out," Klaus added.

"Why does everyone think I have found something out?" Charlotte asked. "I haven't found anything out."

"All that paper and you don't know a thing?" Rebekah asked exasperated.

"I know plenty of things, Beks. I just don't know who is behind this."

"How about a nice info dump, then?" Damon asked.

Charlotte looked conflicted. "I know that you killed Lexi. Which matters a lot to me because she was related to me. By related to me I mean that she was the direct descendant of me and Elijah through our daughter."

Damon looked ashamed.

"Who is Lexi?" Elijah asked.

"Alexia Branson," Stefan responded. "She was my best friend in the world. Damon murdered her."

"Damon's list of positive attributes just keeps growing," Elijah responded and sipped the drink he had poured himself to get through this conversation.

"I also know that Ayanna cursed Elijah so that his descendants would only produce female heirs and at that they would only have one child. She did it to kill the Mikaelson name," Charlotte paused here. "She cursed him to punish him for his abandonment of me. She didn't realize how it would only affect me. Whole keeping my child a secret thing." Here she rolled her eyes. "I also know that Meredith Fell is also related to me. That is how I know her. We're related. I like to keep tabs on my descendants."

Charlotte stretched her arms over her head enjoying the looks of confusion blossoming slowly on the faces of everyone in the room. "What? I know things, guys. I also now know that Faye Salvatore, older sister of Damon and Stefan Salvatore, is still alive. She was presumed dead by Damon and Stefan while they were still human and then by me and Kol back in the teens. Kol was majorly in love with her. She is being held hostage by this real bad seed named Claude who has a major bone of contention to pick with Kol, hence the hostage situation. It was Faye's 'death' that caused Kol to go into a major emotional spiral that I comforted him through. This caused Klaus to think that I was sleeping with Kol which caused him to stake Kol which is a major problem. That is also why you recognize me, Stefan. You met me briefly when you were young and human."

"You were friends with Faye. That's right. Wait, what?" Stefan responded.

"It's okay, cutie. Don't worry your hero haircut. I will explain later. The point is that I know plenty of things. What I don't know is what is going on with us. I cannot figure out what kind of enemy it is that we all have in common. I fly pretty under the radar. Very few people know about me, let alone about my abilities. Whoever this is, they are smart as hell."

"Not helpful, Kitten," Klaus said.

Charlotte made a face of mock shock. "Oh, you must have caught me in the wrong mood. I am not feeling really helpful right now."

"No need to bring out the claws."

"I am going to talk to Tatia. I don't want to, but it seems like it is my only choice because _apparently_ no one else can get anything done."

"Not for lack of trying, sweetheart," Klaus said. "You just happen to have a specific set of skills that are perfectly attuned to getting information. We are terribly jealous."

"_That _is why you daggered me?!" Kol asked.

"Mistakes might have been made," Klaus responded.

"I didn't sleep with her," Kol insisted.

"Believe me, I know now. Got a talking to from Charlotte all about it when I picked her in Vegas."

"Yes, Vegas," Elijah dry remarked from his spot in front of the windows.

"To be clear, Elijah," Charlotte said standing up. "I did sleep with Damon. So that there is no confusion there."

The glass in Elijah's hand shattered and he dropped the remaining pieces of glass in his hands.

"Don't worry, Elijah. I don't plan on doing that again." Damon growled from his side of the room.

"Isn't this great?" Charlotte asked. "It's like we're getting the band back together."

"What is wrong with you?" Rebekah asked.

"What can I say?" Charlotte responded. "I'm angry, Rebekah. I am an incredibly angry person right now. In fact, I would say that my anger is fairly CONSUMING ME." Charlotte paused for a moment to calm herself. "So, I am sorry that I am not feeling like a particularly nice person right now. I could go into hiding and abandon you all to the will of the person who is attacking us. Each man for his own. But I am not. So, you should be a little grateful. Every single one of you has done something incredibly selfish and hurtful in your life. I have to. The difference is that I have the good grace to try and atone for the things that I have done. I cannot say the same about certain people here. Try a little self-reflection." Charlotte stood up and dusted off her dress. "Now, if everyone will excuse me, I have a date with my dearly departed sister. If no one minds, I will retain use of the ballroom for such an activity." She leveled her gaze on Elijah when she said, "I hope everyone understands why I need privacy for this."

Klaus's phone pinged as she was doing this. "That might not be necessary, love. It seems that I have a name for you: Simon. No need to bring Tatia in quite yet."


	23. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

**Hey everyone, we are back in the saddle again. I know that I keep having time between chapters. I am really trying. There are piles of notes that I have on this story (much like the notes that Charlotte has). The problem is getting them sorted and into a cohesive story. I hope that means that you guys will trust me with trying to get this right. This chapter is short and fairly intense.**

** Thank you to AppleBaby7 for following both me and the story, not to mention favoriting the story itself.**

** Thank you to for following both me and the story (real original, btw).**

** Thank you to h1h for following the story.**

**Thank you to paranoidowl for favoriting the story.**

**Thank you to with-a-passion for following and favoriting the story. In response to your review, I am glad you like it so much. I am trying really hard to make the whole thing cohesive and true to the show. I am glad it is ringing true to you. I am hoping that if I falter at any point that you will gladly let me know!**

**Thank you to abc500 for following the story. In response to your review, I am glad that you like it enough that you got mad at Elijah on Charlotte's behalf. To be honest, I go back on forth on the Damon/Elijah issue myself because I think both relationships have so much potential. Please continue to tell me what you think so that I can make the story better. Your feedback is invaluable!**

**Finally, CalligraphersNib, thank you for your continued reviews! Glad you liked the entrance of Lexi. I wanted to incorporate the entire world of the show rather than just focusing on something small like two characters. Charlotte has been alive for 1000 years and it is reasonable that she would have serious connections to all the characters in the mythology whether directly or indirectly. Please continue to review and let me know how I am doing. Your feedback is what means I can know how I am doing. **

"Who is Simon?" Charlotte asked herself. She was back in the ballroom and still wearing Caroline's fluffy pink confection of a dress. She had thought about changing out of it but she also shared with Rebekah that lust for a normal teenage life that was so common now and rare when they were teens themselves.

She had been crossing back & forth through her notes for any mention of any person that she met or heard of named Simon. It is a pretty common name. Still though, she knew so few Simons. Most of them were really bland and boring. Few of them have lived very long. Then, she struck on it. Back in the 1700s, there was a man with similar powers to her. It wasn't the first time that there had been someone with similar powers to her own. She was desperately trying to remember more. His name was Simon. Was his name Simon?

Charlotte started running through the house looking for the thing that would help her to strike the right memory. She ran into the room where everyone was waiting impatiently because there was nothing any of them could do. Klaus, Elijah and Stefan had called any of the people that they could. Waiting for people to call you back was slow business though.

Elijah watched as his wife dug through a box of papers that she had yet to have dragged into the ballroom. He couldn't help but think that she might be the most adorable thing he had ever seen. He practically growled in frustration. The whole situation between the two of them was out of control and had been for nearly 1000 years. Elijah had long ago given up on resolving the problem, but that had been easy with Charlotte being ensconced in her hideaway avoiding all contact. Seeing her made it so much worse. Violence against women is something that Elijah found entirely distasteful, but we would gladly wring his sister-in-law's neck for her actions. Her selfish meddling had effectively ruined his life, and for what? It is not like she was truly in love with Elijah himself. She just liked to have toys to play with. Here he was still bound to the brat.

"Got it!" Charlotte exclaimed. "There was this guy that I heard about back in 1763 who displayed certain aptitudes that were similar to mine. He was a little over a hundred at that time, I think. He would be 400 or so now. _Anddddddd _his name was Simon!"

"Let's celebrate!" Caroline exclaimed hugging Charlotte.

"I think Charlotte has had enough celebrating," Elijah stated once again belying his displeasure.

"Get off it, honey," Charlotte said with false sweetness. "I don't have much to celebrate but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try and buoy my spirits. So, I slept with Damon, what does it matter? It's not like I am your wife anymore. You could have been granted a divorce on grounds of desertion some 990 years ago. And I drank with Caroline to let off steam. I have a lot tearing me up. What does it matter to you, Elijah?"

Elijah slowly strode over to Charlotte and forced her to make direct eye contact with him. "My dear Charlotte, it will always matter. And you will always be my wife. When I took those vows, I meant them. Nothing on this Earth could change the fact I love you more than anything. Some witch's spell didn't make that false. It just forced my direction elsewhere. I have fallen asleep every night for these past 1000 years of my life with thoughts of you and woke hoping to see your face. Whether I knew it was unattainable or not, my last and first thought of every day since I met you has been you and only you."

Charlotte stood breathlessly refusing to break eye contact with Elijah as plump tears formed in her eyes. "I heard somewhere that true love's kiss could break any curse," she whispered in a tiny and broken voice, willing herself to not let the tears fall. Slowly she got on her tiptoes and gave Elijah's the barest of kisses. She shakily lowered herself back to the soles of her feet. "Feel cured?" she asked in the same small broken voice.

"I am the luckiest man on Earth, but if only we lived in a fairy tale, princess."

Realizing how far on the line she had put her emotions out the line, Charlotte covered her own mouth and ran. A moment later a pulse of air signified that Elijah had left, too.

"Did they forget we were here?" Jeremy asked finally breaking the silence when no one else would.

Rebekah hung her head sadly. "They were so in love before," she said not really answering the question with her voice sounding as if it were coming from the far past that her mind was in. "They were never cruel about it, but they would have those moments where they seemed to be the only two people in the world. It was beautiful. That is why we couldn't bear to give her the hope that she could get her husband back. Especially because we knew how impossible it would be." At this moment, Klaus walked over to his little sister and wrapped her in a hug.

He stroked her hair trying to give her comfort when he knew there was none to be found. "If no one else has anything to offer, you guys should all do whatever it is that you do when you are not actively trying to ruin my life. Fighting over how to destroy yourselves to please Elena or the like. Maybe even go take in a picture. This is family business," he told the rest of the group and signaled something to Kol that no one else understood.

Damon Salvatore went straight from the Mikaelson House of Horrors to the Grill and took his seat at the bar. He ordered for himself and Ric before he remembered that Ric was gone. This way he wouldn't have to tell people not to sit there. They would assume someone already was. He began to drown his sorrows as soon as both drinks arrived. He only drank his though. Ric's was there for Ric. Here he was mourning his best friend when he should be worrying about the girl he was getting too caught up in.

There was something about Charlotte that demanded the metaphors of fairy tales, he mused. He had thought it himself and then it was brought back in that little exchange between her and Elijah he had to witness. The thought of it brought up his anger again. He saw it for the first time in that moment. He saw why people thought she was meant for him. And damn him, but he wanted her to be happy. If Elijah was what she needed, he would do everything he could to help them break that stupid curse. She deserved every happiness in the world. Damn the Southern gentleman lurking deep beneath that she seemed to bring out better than anyone else in the world. Damon finally asked for the bottle and went back to the Boarding House to fall in an unhappy slumber.


	24. The Morning After

**I'm baaaaaaaaaack. Sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out. My father passed away this April and it kind of jammed up the works. He was my favorite person ever so it has been hard, but at the same time, I did not want to abandon Charlotte. Here we are to talk about happened with Charlotte after she left.**

** To lmr1985 & melissa2005, thank you for favoriting the story.**

** To Rosalie Mikaelson, thank you for following the story.**

** To CherryFresh, thank you for doing both!**

** To ThePhantomismylove, here is more!**

** To with-a-passion, I loved writing that moment between Charlotte and Elijah. I can't promise that they will end up together because there is a lot of mess there that needs to be cleaned up first. There is still so much feeling and love between the two of them.**

**Lisolotte **

Charlotte was tied up and surrounded by a circle of salt. Her head ached something awful. Maybe it was her neck. She honestly couldn't tell right now.

"Ah, you're awake," a voice said. Charlotte was still unable to get her eyes to focus, so it was just a voice still.

The right hand that the voice belonged to yanked Charlotte's head upward. "Don't try too hard, little miss. We've been bleeding you to make you as weak as possible. You are quite the scary little thing, I'm told. I don't want to mess with that. We just grabbed you to send a message. You don't want to get involved with us. We are quite the nasty bastards. Settle your score with Simon and leave it at that. Don't pursue it any farther. As a show of good faith, we are giving you his address. Don't make us sorry, little bit."

Then it went black for Charlotte again.

-ahc-

Damon looked at the unconscious Charlotte that he had found on his lawn this morning. She looked like she had been worked over quite heavily in the time since she had run from the Mikaelson Manor.

He knelt down and brushed the hair out of her face. "Feeling okay there, princess?" Damon asked her when she stirred.

Charlotte's response was a long series of unintelligible grunts. "Goddamn got kidnapped Daphne style," she finally told him.

"Someone kidnapped _you_?" Damon asked.

Charlotte dragged herself upright. She rubbed her eyes trying to clear her thoughts. "They bled me dry. I need some liquid sustenance and badly."

"Who did this?" Damon asked.

Charlotte shook her head. "No idea. Apparently they consider themselves some bad stuff. Warned me not to get involved with them. They did give me what they claimed to be Simon's address. I must have hit too close to some nerve then." She reached into her pants pocket and handed the address to Damon.

"So, we just show up here and this Simon guy doesn't kill us?" Stefan asked from behind Damon.

"I am more than capable of handling myself. 1000 years old over here," Charlotte responded.

"Did you not just say that you got kidnapped 'Daphne style' a minute ago?" Stefan asked.

Charlotte sighed and rubbed her temples. "Shut up, Stefan. My head hurts so much. Can you not be a brat right now?"

"No need to lash out at Steffie because you got beat up," Damon censured.

"Well, you both suck," Charlotte responded half-heartedly. "But the great thing about being me, is while I might not be invincible, I have the bestest brother in law who is. Not to mention that he kind of would fall over himself to get into my good graces right now."

"Fine, you call up the Big Bad Hybrid," Damon mocked.

-ahc-

Simon sat in the hub of his evil scheme. He loved to think of himself as some evil genius capable of overtaking the world. He had met Charlotte back in the late 1700s and was surprised to see someone else who could commune with the dead. Trading favors with the dead lead to being able to get whatever you wanted in the world. The dead could tell you all kinds of important secrets.

When Esther came to him and asked him to help take Charlotte out, he was glad to be of service. The older woman had not told him what her reason for wanting to get rid of the woman, but Simon hadn't really cared. Now that they were having so much trouble with it, he was starting to ask more questions. Who was Charlotte? How old was she? Were their powers the exact same? Was she stronger or was he? What was Esther's role in all of this?

His informants were not really bringing him much. Finding Tatia had been a blessing, but she was actively resisting him. That was something that no spirit had been able to do before. Was it some extension of strength Tatia had in life or was she that old? Simon wasn't sure that the answer was something he wanted to hear.

-ahc-

Charlotte sat at the bar in the Mystic Grill and downed as many shots of whiskey as she could. Kidnapped. Fucking kidnapped like a small child who was no longer being tended. Charlotte had spent so much time making herself no longer vulnerable and here she was again.

"A whiskey girl?" a man next to her asked. He had not been there in the moments before he spoke so she assumed that he was a ghost.

"I am really not up to unfinished business right now," she told him sourly.

"Not why I am here," he responded with a gentle smile on his face. "Alaric," he introduced himself.


	25. We're All in the Mood for a Melody

**Second chapter because it just happened. It is pretty short, but this is super important when it comes to understanding Charlotte's powers. Also, for future plot developments. So keep your eyes peeled and look closely.**

** Also, thank you to gg23 for following the story. I forgot to thank you in the last chapter.**

**xx, A**

"Nice to meet you, Alaric," Charlotte responded. "Why are you here when I am trying to clear my head if not to get me to do something for you?"

"I am actually here to help you," he said.

Charlotte scoffed. "**How **can you help me? I don't know how much attention you have been paying to the massive mess that is my life, but I think I am beyond the help of a well-meaning spirit."

"My name is Alaric Saltzman. I lead an unremarkable life for a long time, but when I was at Duke, I met Isobel Fleming," here a look of understanding and confusion passed across Charlotte's face. She recognized the name as one of the descendants of Tatia and in that vein one of her own descendants. "We had a rocky relationship, but the point is that through Isobel, I learned about the supernatural. What really does exist in the world we live in. I ended up in Mystic Falls to kill Damon Salvatore because he had killed Isobel."

"Let me guess," Charlotte offered. "You are dead because of it."

Alaric laughed heartily. "No. Not even close. What is the point of me telling the story if you are going to try and guess the ending. No, I did not kill Damon. And it turned out Isobel wasn't dead. Damon became my best friend in the world. That is why I am still hanging around. Because I left him alone in this mess. I had dated Elena's aunt and when she died, I took over custody of Elena and Jeremy. Then, Esther warped me creating another personality designed to kill vampires, specifically her children. I died because the entire vampire race would have ended if I didn't. My life force was tied to Elena's, so Rebekah killed Elena and we ended up with vampire Elena."

Charlotte contemplated what he told her for a second. "This all sounds a little unbelievable."

Alaric gave her a knowing look. "As unbelievable as the fact that we are having this conversation in your dream?"

"What?! No. We are in the Mystic Grill."

"Then why is no one questioning why you are talking to yourself?"

"I must be making you substantial so they see that I am talking to a person."

Alaric smiled patiently at her. "Then why is no one questioning why you are talking to a very dead member of the community?"

Charlotte blushed. "How did you get in my dream? I have never had a person who I never met enter one of my dreams before."

"You are far more powerful than you realize, Charlotte. Not to mention you really need my help," he said with a taunting smile.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Think very highly of yourself much?"

"Aren't you going to ask what you need to do?"

"Nah. My recent run of dream invaders has left me untrusting."

"Talk to him about it."

"Because it is that easy!"

"It is. I have been there. Damon is a terrifyingly damaged person, but he is getting better. And I know he regrets what happened with Lexi. If he could change it, he would. But he can't. All he can do is own up to his own failings. Which knowing the family you married into, I think you can understand how big of a deal that is."

"Let me guess, Damon is perfect for me and the Mikaelsons are evil and Elijah is dumb and I should marry Damon."

Alaric laughed once more. "You're terrible at this guessing game you really should stop. I don't know what you should do about the Mikaelsons. My interactions with them have been singularly unpleasant, but I barely know them. I can only speak to what I know about Damon. Although I will say Elijah has amazing hair." Alaric paused here as if thinking about the majesty of Elijah's hair. "But when it comes to Damon, I think he deserves at least the chance to explain himself. The man is more alone in the world than you can possibly understand. The only person he has in the world is Stefan and their relationship is so damaged it might never be fixed."

"Is that my problem?" she shot back.

"No, but you care for him. As someone who also feels alone, I think you can understand how valuable giving him a bit of trust can be."

"Damon and I are alone for **very **different reasons," Charlotte emphasized.

"Here's what I see: two people whose siblings got picked over them often and by people who really mattered, two people whose trusted has been so beaten that it might no longer exist and two people who feel the need to take care of their siblings' messes at expense of their own feelings and health."

"I think you are giving him too much credit."

"I am the one that knows him. You have just barely scratched the surface," Alaric said with the anger beginning to rise in his voice.

"You miss him," Charlotte stated.

"Of course I miss him. You find friends like that once in a lifetime. I may not have been able to be with Jenna forever, but Damon and I could have been best friends until the end of time. Instead we got a handful of months together. He needs me and I need him."

"Do you want to come back?"

"Come back? Like come back to life? Of course I want to come back. I think about it all the time. I still in that stool next him at the Mystic Grill and wish that it was real and I wasn't some ghost. What kind of question is that?"

An eerie smile came on Charlotte's face. "I can do that," she said in a soft voice.

"You can bring people back from the dead?"

Charlotte only nodded and looked straight ahead lost in thought.


End file.
